


Living the Dream

by DancerinDarkness



Series: Regret and Redemption [5]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Happy, Angst, Baby Nero (Devil May Cry), But things always find a way, Dadgil, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, I hope I'm using these tags correctly, I just want to see them happy, eventually, occasional smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:48:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 47,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24687166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancerinDarkness/pseuds/DancerinDarkness
Summary: No one ever said being a husband and father was easy, especially when life keeps taking unexpected turns. Luckily, no one ever said he had to do it alone.
Relationships: Nero's Mother/Vergil (Devil May Cry)
Series: Regret and Redemption [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686202
Comments: 97
Kudos: 137





	1. Intruder

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was thinking of saving this for Dadgil week, but changed my mind since a) I don't think there's quite enough focus on Dadgil here, and b) for occasional smut (nothing wrong with that, is there?). Hope you enjoy anyways.

Dante watched as a light flickered on upstairs in the cottage, the one that was where the master bedroom was. The other day he received a notification in the mail that the utilities at the lakeside property had recently been in use, and he hadn’t even been near the place in years. So one evening, he decided that he would give this intruder a visit.

He quietly made his way to the front porch and turned the key into the lock, Ebony within the grip of his free hand. The front door opened with a loud creak, his arm outstretched and ready to take down any attacker. When he stepped inside, he saw that the white sheets that were covering the furniture were now missing, and he could distinguish the scent of a recently cooked meal. It was a pleasant smell, one that he could even call nostalgic, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment.

“Hello?” he called out. No answer. “I know someone’s in here; come out now, and I’ll only give your ass a slight beating.”

When he was greeted with silence once again, he slowly made his way up the stairs, trying not to make the steps creak too much. When he reached the top, he was surrounded by darkness, which made it easy to see the light peeking through the bottom of the master bedroom door across from him.

“Last chance to come out,” Dante said as he approached the door.

Three more steps were all he needed for his free hand to reach the doorknob. Ever so slowly he turned it, until the latch was open. A second later the door swung open, and he thrust his arm forward, prepared to shoot.

“All right, asshole, time to-“ he shouted. But he stopped himself when he saw that there was a frightened looking young woman in a red dress with brown hair standing in front of him, a bundle of black fabric clutched tightly to her chest. “Whoa…” When he saw that she was frozen in fear, her body slightly trembling, he quickly lowered his gun. He slowly tried to approach her, but she soon backed away from him, turning away from him slightly so that the bundle in her arms was no longer right in front of him, and she held it even closer to her body. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said as he stopped moving. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I just-“

His words were quickly cut off when he felt something give him a hard kick in the back, knocking him right to the ground, which elicited a surprised gasp from the young woman. Before he could comprehend what was happening, he felt an extreme amount of pressure being exerted against his spine, which made it difficult for him to breathe.

“You have exactly three seconds to tell me what you’re doing here, little brother,” an all too familiar voice said. “And to give me a good reason as to why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”

“V-Verge?!” Dante choked out as he tried to get back to his feet. “What the hell- I should be asking you that!” He let out a pained grunt when Vergil’s foot pressed even harder against his back, and he could feel the tip of Yamato’s blade ever so slightly touch his scalp.

“Two seconds.”

“Vergil, wait!” the woman cried as she approached him.

“Alisha, get back!” Vergil said. “I won’t let him hurt you.”

“Vergil, please, just stop for a moment! You said he was your brother, just let him talk!” Vergil hesitated for a moment, looking down at Dante as he was crushed beneath his foot. Then he slowly lifted his boot and sheathed his blade, allowing his brother to finally stand back up.

“All right,” Vergil said as he watched his brother get back to his feet. “Now start talking.”

“Fine then,” Dante replied. “I’m here ‘cause the power company told me someone was using this place, which I’m gonna guess is you. So you mind telling me why?”

Not a second later did he hear a tiny cry coming from across the room. He looked over and saw that Alisha was holding a baby wrapped in the black fabric with a distinct crown of white hair who looked no more than a month old, which she gently rocked and hushed to try to soothe it. Then he noticed a silver ring on the finger of her left hand.

“Wait a sec…” Dante said. His eyes darted to his brother’s left hand and saw that he was wearing an identical ring. For a split second, he thought that he saw witnessing some strange fever dream. “Holy shit… Verge… is this…?” Vergil sighed before making his way towards Alisha, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Yes, brother,” Vergil replied. “This is my wife and son.”

 _Okay, this is just weird_.

Dante couldn’t believe what he saw seeing and hearing; his twin brother, a guy who ruthlessly chased power and had no mercy for anything or anyone that stood in his way, had gotten married, had a kid, and settled down. What the hell happened since the last time they saw each other? The least his big brother could have done was call or write or something. 

“Yeah…” Dante finally said. “This only raises more questions.” He tried to approach his brother, until he saw his hand fly to Yamato’s hilt, his body shielding his wife and child, looking as though he would strike if Dante took even one step closer. “Look… I’m sorry I barged in here and pointed a gun at them. I thought some squatters or something found their way here. But clearly, I was wrong. I just wish you would have told me sooner. But you can tell me more tomorrow; it’s getting late, and I’ve got stuff to do back at home. I’ll see if I can bring anything over.”

“That’s not-“ Vergil tried to say as he brother began walking out the door.

“Look, just put your damn ego aside for once and let me help my brother, okay?” Dante showed no signs of listening to any more of his brother’s protests as he walked down the stairs and out the door. Finally, Vergil and his wife and son were alone.

“Vergil,” Alisha finally said. “Why didn’t you tell me have a brother?” He expected her to be angry with him for hiding such a large part of his life from her, but she sounded more hurt than anything, as though she felt he had the need to keep something like that a secret. He couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty by her reaction.

“I wasn’t planning on keeping it secret forever,” he replied. “It’s just… there’s a lot of danger that follows the both of us, and I wanted to keep you away from it as much as possible.” She sat on the bed and took his hand in hers, gently pulling him down to join her.

“I know you want to keep us safe, and I’m so appreciative of that. But please, no more secrets between us; I don’t expect you to tell me everything right away, but please tell me that you’ll try to be more open with me from now on.”

Vergil was of course still hesitant to be more transparent with her; not from a lack of trust, but because he was certain that the more she knew, the more likely it would be she would die just as his mother did. And that was it addition to his worry of how she would react if she were to find out the atrocities he committed to gain more power. But he knew he couldn’t expect her to be content with still knowing so little about him.

“Very well,” he said as squeezed her hand. “From now on, I’ll be more honest with you. I promise.” She smiled at him before looking down at her child; he had fallen fast asleep, cuddled close to his mother’s breast.

“Looks like someone’s tired,” she said as she stood back up. “I’ll put him to bed now.”


	2. Lost

The next morning, Alisha had woken up with a fever.

Thankfully, her temperature wasn’t very high and she wasn’t feeling as weak as she usually did when she was ill, but she was still too fatigued to get up and walk around the house. So she stayed in bed while Vergil attended to her needs, and he brought over their son and laid him on the bed next to her. She gently stroked his soft, snowy hair, and kissed him on the crown of his tiny head as Vergil sat in a chair at her bedside. She smiled as she placed her index finger within her child’s little hand, which he instinctively grasped.

“Can I come in?” Dante’s voice suddenly called from behind the slightly ajar door. 

“If you insist,” Vergil replied. “But do try to keep it down.” When he entered the bedroom, Dante looked a bit surprised to see Alisha lying in bed and looking a bit pale when she seemed fine yesterday.

“Is everything okay?” he asked with a much lower voice.

“You don’t need to worry,” Alisha replied. “I’m just not feeling too well, that’s all. I should be better in a few days.” Suddenly, the baby starting crying and fussing about in the bed. “That’s right, it’s about time to feed him again,” she said as she adjusted herself. “I should be able to-“

“No,” Vergil interrupted as he gently touched her shoulder. “I’ll take care of it; just focus on resting.” He slowly picked up his son and carried him downstairs, with Dante following close by.

Vergil prepared the serving of milk and quietly fed the child as he sat on the sofa. He should be happy; he and his wife and son were at the peaceful little cottage that he promised to take her to, and they were already settling in quite comfortably. But all he could think of is the uncertainty of what would happen next. He knew he needed more power; how else was he supposed to protect his wife and child? But he couldn’t just leave them; he’d be putting them in immeasurable danger. And what of Alisha’s health? She may be doing adequately now, but he had a feeling that wouldn’t last forever.

What was he supposed to do…?

“You feeling okay?” Dante asked as his brother gently laid his son against his shoulder and patted his back.

“My wife is ill,” Vergil replied as he walked back into the kitchen and placed the empty bottle into the sink. “Pardon me if I don’t feel in a very bright mood.”

“She looks fine, though; I’m sure she’ll get better, it’s probably just a cold or something.”

“You don’t understand,” his brother curtly answered as he turned towards him. “Her health has been frail and her constitution fragile since she was a child, something she inherited from her mother. Then she became gravely ill when Alisha was five years old; her body could no longer take care of itself, and she died within a month. I’ve been tending to Alisha’s needs as best I can, but I don’t know how much time I have left…”

Vergil sighed as he looked down at his child. He was sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of the troubles that plagued his father.

“I need to find a way to keep her healthy, and to keep them safe…” Vergil continued, “but I don’t even know where to begin...” He returned to the sofa, being careful so as to not awaken his son. There was a slight pause before Dante spoke again.

“Look,” Dante said, “this is probably a good place for your family, at least for now; it’s cozy enough for three people and there’s plenty of fresh air to help Alisha with her health. As for money, I’ve got a demon hunting business in Redgrave City, about an hour from here. I can’t say the pay’s always consistent, and the hours can range from doing nothing all day, to absolute hell, but it’s something. And I can pitch in if you’re ever in a bind for anything. Once Alisha gets better, I can get you started. What do you say?”

The last thing Vergil expected to happen was for his brother to suddenly waltz back into his life and offer to help him, especially after all the trouble Vergil had caused in the past. Normally, he would want to do as little as possible with his younger sibling, and he imagined that the feelings would be mutual on Dante’s end. But nonetheless it was true that Vergil urgently needed to find way to start supporting his new family as soon as he could, and he would be a fool to turn down this offer. At the very least, it would be a start.

“Very well,” he replied. “Alisha doesn’t seem as ill as she usually gets; she should be better within a week or so.”

“Hey, no need to rush,” Dante said. “However much time you need, I can wait.”

Vergil couldn’t help but feel a rush of warmth when he saw his son cuddle closer to his chest, stirring within the confines of the black fabric he was carefully wrapped in. What a small, weak little thing he was, completely helpless without an adult to care for his every need… It seemed so long ago that Vergil would have been repulsed by such weakness, and now he was putting everything he once valued completely aside in order to protect this tiny life and his frail mother. How easy it would be for any sort of harm to come to this infant, how one moment of carelessness could lead to disaster…

“Oh yeah, I don’t think you ever told me what his name is,” Dante said as he leaned against the back of the sofa, pulling Vergil from his thoughts. 

“Augustine,” Vergil replied. “After her father.”

“Huh… bit of a mouthful, but it’s nice that his name’s important to her.”

The day remained uneventful during the remaining hours. Vergil had opened the large bedroom window to get some fresh air in for Alisha, as it was a pleasant day with a warm breeze. She took a short nap after lunch, and spent her waking hours in bed reading the books they had brought over from her home in Fortuna and cuddling with her child. She was pleased to hear that Dante was willing to have his brother work with him, even if the job was rather dangerous.

“That’s wonderful,” she said. “I’m so happy things have been going as well as they have.” She looked down and saw the baby yawn as she wrapped her arm around him, and she gently kissed the crown of his head, a loving smile on her face. “Isn’t he sweet? I’m so happy that he looks like his papa, so handsome. And… no one can doubt that he’s yours.” Vergil’s brow furrowed at her last remark.

“Are you really still worried about that?” he asked with a bit of disappointment. “I told you that you didn’t need to be concerned with such things after we left Fortuna.” She let out a small sigh.

“I’m sorry… I suppose there are things I need to work on as well…” He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead before taking his son from her arms.

“It’s getting late,” he said. “I think it’s time for all of us to turn in.”


	3. Reminiscing

Alisha had been getting better more quickly than anticipated; Vergil had speculated that the fresh air and finally moving away from Fortuna improving her spirits helped in that regard. She was even able to get out of bed by the third day. Still, he kept a close eye on her, lest things take a turn for the worst when least expected.

It was why he was surprised when the scent of something delicious smelling woke him up that morning. The second thing he noticed was the bed being empty, which meant that he woke up alone. He stepped out of bed and made his way into the nearby bedroom that he and his brother used to share when their family summered here, which was now being used to keep their child in. He peered into the white bassinet and saw that it was vacant.

“Don’t tell me…” Vergil murmured to himself as he looked at the empty bedding. He was very much hoping that Alisha was simply resting on the sofa downstairs and not busy cooking, but he doubted that his brother would take the initiative to come all this way to cook breakfast for them.

His suspicions were confirmed when he walked down the stairs and heard his wife cheerfully humming. The small television was playing the morning news, and he could see his son lying in the beige pram next to the sofa, looking up curiously at his father. Vergil looked over to the kitchen and saw that Alisa was cooking scrambled eggs with diced bell peppers, using the black spatula with careful precision. When she caught a glimpse of him, she gave him the warm smile he so loved.

“Good morning,” she said before resuming cooking.

“How long have you been up?” he asked.

“Oh, just about an hour or so. I had to make sure to get up extra early since I know you’re an early riser.”

“Alisha, you shouldn’t have done this; you should be resting for at least one more day.” She giggled in response to his concern.

“I’m feeling fine, Vergil; I know you’re worried about my health, but you don’t need to be so scared all the time.” She smiled at him again when she saw the troubled look on his face before returning her attention to the skillet. He never meant to be condescending towards her with his constant worry for her; he knew very well that she was a responsible woman who was well aware of how she needed to be cautious when it came to her physical well-being. But how could he not be always concerned about her when all it could take is one bad day for her to be on the brink of death?

Suddenly, Augustine started softly crying, interrupting his mother from her cooking. “Oh dear, someone’s not in a good mood,” she said as she put down the spatula. “Why don’t you finish this up, and I’ll take care of him.”

Alisha left her place at the stove to pick up and soothe the baby, and Vergil continued cooking for her. It looked like it was about halfway done. As he tried to maneuver the skillet to get the eggs evenly cooked, he tilted it just a bit too far, and a chunk of egg and bell peppers fell straight into the blue fire of stove.

“Damn it,” he muttered under his breath as he hastily positioned the skillet back upright.

“Do you need any help?” Alisha asked as her son started settling down some.

“No,” he quickly replied as he started very slowly shifting the eggs with the spatula.

A few minutes later breakfast was ready. The eggs were just a bit overcooked, but all Alisha said was that they were delicious. At least the toast was fine. She did, however, offer to help him the next time he cooked. He admitted it was slightly embarrassing that he was unsatisfactory at something that should be an essential skill. But prior to this, making food that was edible was simply a way to fuel his body as needed; whether or not it was pleasing to his taste buds was irrelevant. Now, though, it would probably be wise to learn how to cook more than just the canned broth he served to his wife when she was bedridden.

After breakfast, the three of them spent some time outdoors, as it was supposed to rain tomorrow. Luckily, today showed no such signs of precipitation, and the sun’s rays made the surface of the lake sparkle. Alisha gleefully pointed out everything she could to her son as she held him securely in her arms, from the vibrant flowers in full bloom, a flock of chattering birds flying overhead, to a monarch butterfly that had landed on the railing of the front porch where they were sitting.

“I wish I could have known my mother more,” she said. “My father often talked about her, and I have a few memories of us together. But I wish I had more. What about your mother, Vergil? Did you know her for very long?” Vergil turned his gaze downwards and was silent for a moment. He supposed it was only right that she know…

“Yes,” he finally said. “Her name was Eva. She was a human, but my brother and I were quite close to her. Unfortunately…” He paused for a few seconds before continuing. “She was killed by demons when we were eight years of age. After that, my brother and I were separated, and we had to find our own way in the world.”

Alisha couldn’t help but make a quiet gasp; she remained quiet for a moment, as though trying to process what he just said, and trying to find the right words to say to him.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she softly grasped his hand. “I suppose my complaints about my family problems seem petty to you.”

“No,” he quickly answered. “I don’t want you to ever think such a thing.” She smiled at him before leaning her head against his shoulder.

“What was she like?” she asked.

“Wonderful… her heart was full of love for us; I could see it every time she smiled or laughed… she always knew what to say whenever one of us was distressed. Of course, that didn’t mean she was a pushover.”

He gave a slight chuckle and a small smile spread across his lips before continuing. “I recall a time when my brother and I got into a rather heated argument. After trying several times to calmly resolve our issues, to no avail, she made us hold hands for half an hour. If we were to separate for even a second, the kitchen timer she set would be restarted. We must have separated at least five times before our thirty minutes finally up. By the next morning, I don’t think either of us even remembered what we had even been arguing about.” Alisha lightly giggled at his story.

“She sounded like a great mother,” she said. “I hope I can be as good of a mother as she was.” She looked down and saw that her baby was fast asleep. He must have dozed off while she and Vergil were talking. “Let’s go inside now; I have a few things I need to do, anyways.”

* * *

Alisha organized the last of her clothes that were still in boxes as Augustine slept peacefully until dinnertime. He made sure she knew that with his typical cry, to which she nursed him while she gently rocked in the wooden rocking chair and stroked his hair. He heartily suckled from her breast while she softly hummed for him, and she took a moment to look around the little nursery from her seat. The room was rather small and a bit cramped with the bunk bed, chair, changing table, and bassinet, and it would probably only become more constricted when the time came to install the crib. But she didn’t mind; whatever problem they would encounter, they would find a way to manage.

After the baby had his fill, she walked downstairs with him in her arms before placing him in the pram and began to prepare dinner. She carefully cut the vegetables before assisting Vergil in gently maneuvering the vegetables and chicken pieces in frying pan. 

At the kitchen table, she could tell there were still things troubling her husband; she asked him if everything was all right, but he simply replied “everything’s fine” as he always did. She still had some frustrations, but at least she was able to get him to open up just a little bit earlier in the day.

Just as they finished eating, Augustine started causing a fuss again. She took him upstairs for a diaper change while Vergil washed the dishes. After her son was cleaned and changed, she smiled as she looked down at his now swaddled form; it was almost hard to believe that her strong, stoic husband was once this tiny, and he probably looked a lot like him. Of course, she could only imagine how much of a handful two half demon children were at the same time were.

She placed him in the bassinet before joining Vergil in the bedroom. After changing out of her dress and pulling on her nightgown, she accompanied her husband on the bed, who welcomed her with his arms holding her close to his sturdy chest and a kiss on the forehead. Perhaps they could both get a bit of rest in before the little one needed their attention again.


	4. The Family Business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys ready for some smut?

Dante knocked on the door to his brother’s home one early afternoon. Vergil said that today was a good day for him to finally get to see what the “family business” was all about, since Alisha had just about made a full recovery. A few seconds later, she was at the door, greeting him with a cheerful smile.

“Hello, Dante,” she said as she opened the door wide for him. “Vergil stepped out for a bit, but he should be home soon. Is there anything I can get you?”

“Nah, that’s fine,” Dante replied as he stepped into the house. He watched as she finished putting away a few dishes that were left in the drying rack in the kitchen sink before happily picking up the baby from the pram and rocking him as she wandered around the living room. This girl was pretty great, all right; she was sweet and nurturing, and always seemed to be smiling no matter what she was doing. And if that wasn’t enough, she was pretty as hell. More modest than he was usually into, but only a total dumbass would hold that against her. In other words, she’s the kind of girl that his big brother would repel like mosquitoes to bug spray within a fifty foot radius.

“So,” Dante said as he took a seat on the sofa, “I guess I should ask the question everyone asks: how’d you two meet?”

“Well, about a year ago,” she said, “Vergil arrived in Fortuna to study our Savior, Sparda.” Figures that they would end up meeting because of him and brother’s old man. “The island is very secretive and not welcoming outsiders, but I offered to help him; I worked at the library and had access to confidential archives, and I offered him a place to stay so that he could be away from prying eyes. In exchange, he would take me someplace far away from Fortuna. You see, the people there were… unkind to me.” Dante found it hard to imagine why anyone would be a jerk to her, let alone a whole bunch of people. “As time went by, we grew quite close. Then, well, we had our little surprise. We quickly got married afterwards; if we didn’t, our child would have been sent to the orphanage.”

“Wait, seriously?” Dante asked. She nodded her head in confirmation. Wherever this Fortuna place was, it was pretty ass backwards if they did that. He could only imagine what kind of “crime” she did to earn everyone’s hatred. “Huh… had to rush through things when you were still young, I guess.”

“Not necessarily; my own mother and father were married when they were only a year older than me and Vergil when we did.” Seemed like people in Fortuna married young. Still, to know each other for such a short time, they moved pretty fast. On the one hand, when things moved that fast when people were still young, it usually ended in a messy separation. On the other hand, for Vergil to have this kind of devotion to someone meant that he must have felt pretty seriously about her to even allow himself to become close to her in the first place, let alone tie the knot with her. But why?

Alisha gave a light chuckle when she saw his confused expression. “I suppose you’re wondering what I saw in your brother.”

“Well, I mean…” Dante tried to find the right words that didn’t make him sound like an asshole, but he just ended up sounding like an idiot.

“I admit that he was quite standoffish at first,” she continued. “I would be lucky if he said more than five words to me before the day was over. But slowly, but surely, he started warming up to me. It was nice to have someone else in the house again after my father died. But most of all, he never once judged me.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, I mentioned how everyone looked down on me; they also never made their disdain for me a secret, and I’m sure he heard many unkind things about me. But even though it was all of their words against mine, he never once doubted that I was innocent; he was able to see me for who I really was, and not be influenced by everyone. It was the first time anyone saw me in such a way in a long while.”

A loving smile bloomed on her face as she looked down at her son. “I knew he was someone special when he rescued me from a demon attack; even though he was a demon himself, I knew I was safe with him.”

Yep, she was definitely something else; there’s no way in hell Vergil would even consider going out of his way to rescue a human for no reason other than out of the goodness of his heart otherwise.

“Oh, did you get a chance to hold him yet?” she said as she sat next to Dante. “Here.”

“Oh, um, I don’t know if-“ Dante protested. But before he knew it, she had gently placed the baby in his arms. Surprisingly, he looked pretty comfortable, and he gazed upwards at his uncle’s face. He was a pretty cute kid, Dante had to admit, with bright blue eyes and full cheeks. And he was so small and light that Dante could barely even feel the weight of his nephew. He could see why even a hardass like his brother would defrost even just a bit at the sight of him.

And then he started crying.

“Ah, geez…” Dante awkwardly held him in his lap, trying not to make him even more upset, but nothing seemed to help as the poor kid kept wailing.

“It’s all right,” she reassured him as she held Augustine again. “He’s just not used to anyone else holding him expect for his mama and papa.” After a few seconds of gently hushing him, he was quiet and calm. “I’m sure he’ll get more used to you soon.”

Soon after, Vergil entered the home, and she quickly stood from the sofa to greet him. He responded by giving her a small kiss on the lips, to which she softly smiled at him. Dante knew he should have come to expect the unexpected, but to see his brother show any kind of affection almost made him believe that Vergil was replaced by an identical doppelganger. He didn’t even notice the bewildered expression on his face until Vergil threw an irritated scowl his way.

* * *

Not long afterwards, they were introduced to Dante’s shop. They were immediately greeted with a desk that looked as though it had several weeks’ worth of untouched documents piled on its surface, and an empty pizza box had been knocked onto the floor. Below it was a dirty looking rug. Across from the desk were a couch, jukebox, refrigerator, and bookshelf lined across the wall, as well as a bar nearby. The interior as a whole looked as though it had seen better days, and they saw the lights briefly flicker, but the nonetheless the building was far from unlivable.

“When was the last time this place was cleaned?” Vergil sneered.

“Come on, Verge, you know how much time hunting demons take?” Dante said. “Anyways, business hours are usually whenever I’m awake, but you can have the typical nine-to-five and weekends off. Like I said, the pay’s inconsistent, but when a paycheck does come in, it’s usually pretty good. As for your cut, I’ll give you 60 percent.”

“You don’t-“ Vergil was about to say.

“You need the money more than I do, so shut up.”

As the brothers continued talking, Alisha took a closer look at Dante’s desk. Along with the stacks of papers, there was a photo of a woman with blonde hair wearing a black dress and a red scarf at her arms, with a lovely smile on her face. This must have been their mother. On the surface of the wood, she could distinguish a few telltale grease stains and condensation rings. It seemed as though there was a lot of work that he had yet to attend to…

“Dante,” she said as she approached him. “I could help you around the shop; In Fortuna, I worked at the library by organizing books and filling out some paperwork.”

“Oh… well, I appreciate the offer,” he replied. “But I don’t think you should be jumping right back into working right after you’ve had a kid. Maternity leave and all that.”

“That’s all right; I only worked three days a week because of my health, and I’ll have the baby with me at all times. Besides, I’m sure the work won’t be too demanding, and I’ll get to see you and Vergil when you’re here.”

“There’s also the issue of the cleanliness,” Vergil added with a glare towards his brother, who simply rolled his eyes. “I don’t want to risk you becoming ill more than needed.”

“Well, I’ll be spending most of my time at home, anyways, so I’m sure it won’t be too detrimental. I can help clean here, too.” She saw Vergil look troubled for a moment; she understood that he often worried about her, but she still wanted to be useful in any way she could. She did not think him demeaning of her, but at the same time she wished he wouldn’t be so anxious on her account.

“If that’s what you wish,” Vergil replied, “then I want you to take extra care when you’re here." She smiled at him in return.

“Of course,” she said before she leaned in to kiss his cheek. She knew that this new life would take some getting used to, but she was happy to finally start and leave her past sorrows behind her.

Vergil planned to begin working with his brother within the next two days. Before that, he insisted that they clean the place before Alisha joined them. And of course, Dante insisted that she be compensated for her work, even if her hours were short.

At the end of the night, Augustine was sleeping peacefully in his bassinet, tired from traveling and a belly full of milk.

“How are you feeling?” Vergil asked as they entered the bedroom.

“Fine,” she replied as she began unbuttoning her dress. “I’m glad everything worked out well with your brother.”

“I don’t want you to think you have to work too hard; I don’t need you coming home exhausted.” She giggled at his overprotectiveness as she changed into her nightgown.

“Vergil, a bit of paperwork and straightening up is hardly what I’d call exhausting.”

“I know… I just want to make sure you’re safe.” She smiled as she turned to him before gently caressing his cheek. He responded by leaning his head in to kiss her, and their lips lingered on one another’s as he pulled her against his bare chest. She could feel his arms wrapping tighter around her body, and his tongue gliding into her mouth. His mouth swallowed her moan as her eyelids fluttered shut, and she felt a tingling sensation beneath her skin.

After a moment their lips separated, and her cheeks were now dusted with a bright crimson. Her legs were beginning to feel weak and she could feel her heart rapidly beating within her chest.

“How long do you think he’ll stay asleep?” Vergil asked in a low voice.

“For a while,” she replied. “He had a lot to drink tonight, and he always sleeps well when he has a full stomach.”

As soon as she said those words, he guided her to the bed and gently laid her on the mattress, his mouth never leaving hers. She gasped when she felt his knee between her legs, and he began sucking at the crook of her neck. It was a small blessing, she thought, that her dresses covered most of her body so that her husband’s marks wouldn’t be visible to others. She panted as she wove her fingers into his hair, and she began rubbing her groin against his knee. She could feel her underwear becoming damp, and he let out a groan when he finally released his mouth to admire the bright red blemish he made at her skin.

Slowly, he lowered himself along her body until he was at her hips. He gathered the fabric of her nightgown until it was bunched in his fingers, and he pulled it up until it was above her waist.

She bit her lip when her gaze met the caesarean scar at her belly; it would probably never completely fade. She knew it was vain of her, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit insecure at the unsightly, vertical mark, even if Vergil was one of the only people who saw it. Her hand slowly lifted to cover it, so that it would be out of sight for the both of them.

As though sensing her anxiety, he gently removed her hand before placing a kiss at her scar. He then gently stroked his fingers across the line, as though admiring and caressing it. She smiled at his affection; he always seemed to know how to reassure her of his love.

He removed her underwear, leaving her moist entrance fully exposed to him. He placed a kiss at her inner thigh, light and warm, before his tongue stroked against her folds.

Her hand flew to her mouth just before a lengthy moan escaped her. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip as she looked down at her husband eagerly using his tongue to pleasure her, and wet sounds filled the otherwise quiet bedroom. How precise he was, tracing against the regions that he knew made her whimper and squirm on the bed. She desperately tried to keep as quiet as possible, but he was making it very difficult, especially when he opened her up with his fingers and inserted his tongue inside of her.

“Vergil…” she whined as her voice was muffled behind her hand. How she missed how wonderful his mouth felt against her intimate regions, his tongue rubbing against her soft, warm walls as he devoured her lust. Her legs suddenly clenched around his head when he touched a particularly sensitive spot, and he held her hips tightly in place when he relentlessly rubbed against it. 

A loud, shaky cry was thankfully silenced by the palm of her hand when she climaxed, and her husband lovingly drank up every drop of her fluids as it flowed into his mouth. Her eyes squeezed shut while her vision turned white, and she felt her entire body tense up as it was overwhelmed with pleasure.

After a few moments, her body relaxed, and she removed the hand from her mouth as Vergil climbed up to kiss her. Her arms wrapped around him as he cupped her face with his hands, softly moaning when his tongue caressed hers.

“How was that?” he asked her.

“Good…” she sighed as she was beginning to recover from her euphoric state. “Now let me return the favor.” Before he could say anything, she began unfastening his pants, quickly noticing how hard he had become.

“Alisha, that isn’t necessary,” he replied. He tried to sound as though he wasn’t in any need after pleasing his wife, but the guttural groan he made when she stroked his member told her otherwise.

“You do so much for me,” she said. “Please, let me do something for you.” He looked as though he was about to object to her request, but every time he tried to speak, all he could do was groan at her soft hand rubbing his length, and she could feel a drop of precum emerge from the tip. It did not take long for him to finally surrender.

He slowly rolled onto his back in the center of the bed, and she quickly made her way on top of him, her knees straddling him so that she was facing him. She knew that they should wait a bit longer before indulging in intercourse, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t please her husband in a different way.

She began by circling the tip with her tongue, feeling how warm he was, to which he responded by digging his nails into the bed sheets. After licking away the last bit of precum, she lowered her head onto as much of the length as she could, moaning so that he could feel the vibrations of her mouth on his cock. He hissed through his teeth as she began sucking, letting her tongue run against the length.

“Damn it,” he cursed as he watched her head maneuver up and down his length. “Alisha, you can stop n-“

His words were cut off with a deep groan that vibrated through his chest when the head of his cock entered her throat. His hips instinctively bucked upwards, which startled her for a second, but she remained calm as she continued to pleasure him with her mouth. She could hear him panting, trying to steady his breath as much as he could so that he could keep his composure. She closed her eyes as she fully concentrated on how good he felt inside her mouth, how hard he was, how soft the skin was, how she could feel it ever so slightly twitch as he was getting closer…

A few seconds later she heard a guttural groan as his hot seed rushed into her mouth, which she quickly swallowed. The taste was bitter and she was having a difficult time keeping up, but she was more than happy to give him just as much release as he did for her, and she loved how his fingers flew to her hair to keep her still. She remained in place until she was sure he was finished, and she swallowed the last few drops before removing him from her mouth.

Before she could say anything, he quickly pulled her back up to his side so he could hold her tightly to his chest, and he gave her a kiss at the crown of her head.

“I think I did well,” she said with a smile.

“I don’t want you to think you’re required to do this,” he said as he stroked her hair. “Especially so soon after giving birth.”

“But I don’t; I do this because I love you.” He softly kissed her on the lips before she found herself dozing off in is embrace. Augustine would need one of them soon enough, but for now, she would have a very good rest.


	5. Comfort

Dante returned home in the early afternoon with a bag of groceries in hand. Vergil had all but demanded that he clean the office before Alisha cam over tomorrow, saying that it was "unfit" for her. Dante allowed him to do so, as long as his brother didn’t rearrange anything.

As soon as he opened the door, he was suddenly overwhelmed with the strong scent of chemicals and rubbing alcohol, with a hint of citrus. Across from him, Vergil was meticulous rubbing a white rag against the wooden surface of the bar while he wore a pair of latex gloves.

“Geez, Verge, this place smells like a hospital,” Dante said as he tossed the plastic bag on his desk and approached his brother.

“I told you that Alisha becomes ill easily,” Vergil replied as he pulled off the gloves and threw them in the rubbish bin.

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to douse the whole place with cleaning supplies, did you?” Vergil simply gave a small grunt before placing the rag back into the nearby cupboard.

As much as Dante didn’t want to admit it, the office did look a fair bit nicer, though he could have done without the smell. At least nothing looked out of place, either. Even the stack of pizza boxes in the back that he kept forgetting to throw in the trash was gone.

“You really should take care to clean up after yourself more often,” Vergil said as he put away a bottle of disinfectant. “I know that Alisha said she would keep this place neat, but she shouldn’t overwork herself.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Still, though he didn’t mention it to his brother, Dante did make a mental note to, at the very least, remember to throw away his trash instead of leaving it strewn all over the place. He wasn’t exactly comfortable with his brother’s wife picking up after him, and it wasn’t just because Vergil would beat the shit out of him if she so much as had to pick up a candy wrapper off the floor that he forgot about.

* * *

The next day, Vergil and Alisha had arrived at Dante’s office for their first day on the job. Thankfully, Augustine didn’t seem to mind traveling, and he was content to lie in his pram, staring at the ceiling. Not long after settling in, Dante received a phone call. While his brother was on the phone, Vergil watched as his wife gently stroked Augustine’s chest, smiling as her son looked up at her. By her side on the couch was her brown satchel filled with numerous supplies for whatever issue may arise.

“Gotta head out,” Dante said as he hung up the phone. “Shouldn’t be gone for long. Don’t do anything weird while I’m away, Verge.”

Vergil rolled his eyes as his brother stepped out the door. As if he needed such a reminder.

“I should probably get started on some paperwork,” Alisha said as she stood from her seat. “And it’ll give you some time with him.” She smiled at him before making her way to Dante’s desk.

Vergil reseated himself so that he was in front of the pram. His son still looked quite relaxed, his bright blue eyes gazing curiously up at his father. Vergil slowly extended his hand and placed it on Augustine’s chest, carefully trying to imitate the same movements his wife made. Alisha always encouraged him to handle their child often, saying that it was important that he become accustomed to his father’s touch, so that he could feel safe with him. But he could not help but be filled with apprehension whenever he touched him; his son was so small and delicate, he felt as though he would harm the infant if he didn’t take the upmost care. Even the thought of any harm coming to his son because of his carelessness filled him with dread.

A strange noise that Augustine made caused Vergil to quickly pull his hand away, thinking he had done something to hurt him. But his son showed no sign of discomfort, despite continuing his cooing and stirring a bit within his swaddle.

After a moment of hesitation, Vergil warily picked up his son with both hands and gently cradled him in his arms. Augustine started moving again, this time turning slightly so that he was facing his father.

“Are you all right now?” Vergil softly asked. His son responded with some gentle cooing. How strange this all was; Augustine would not remember this moment, or any of the moments he and his family would have for a few years. Neither would he be able to understand any of the words spoken to him, or the promises his father made to protect both him and his mother. And yet, Vergil felt an overwhelming desire to give this child every ounce of affection he was capable of giving, and perhaps even more. How full of comfort he felt, to feel the weight of this tiny bundle of warmth in his arms. It was a peace he never thought he would feel in his entire lifetime… Even though the fear of disaster was always lingering within him, he felt as though he could ignore the troubles of the world for just a moment.

“I know you’re weak,” Vergil said. “But you’ll be safe, because I’ll be strong for you.”

An hour later, Dante returned. Apparently, his mission had been little more than “pest control”.

“Dante, this says you’re a week late for your water bill,” Alisha said as she showed him a sheet of paper.

“Good thing this last job should cover it,” Dante replied. “I’ll look at it later.” A bright grin spread across his face as he approached his nephew in his brother’s arms. “Hey, little guy; have you been keeping your dad outta trouble?” Augustine responded with a sharp cry, which made Dante stagger backwards. Vergil could not contain the small chuckle he released as he gently rocked his son to soothe him.

“It seems you already know what kind of person my brother is,” he said with a subtle smile.

Throughout the rest of the work day, the two brothers alternated missions. Augustine eventually stopped crying whenever his uncle was near, though that didn’t stop Dante from being very careful around his nephew. When the early evening arrived, Vergil took his wife and son home, and Alisha gave Dante a quick kiss on the cheek goodbye. Vergil knew that his wife meant no harm with the gesture, but he didn’t care for the way his brother smiled after she did so.

After dinner, Alisha requested that he read poetry before she put Augustine to bed. So he sat on the sofa with her by his side, and their son in her arms. Slowly, he read passages from William Blake as his wife lay her head against his shoulder.

“Your voice has always been so soothing to me,” she said. “I think he enjoys it too.” He kissed her on the forehead before continuing. Eventually, his son had fallen fast asleep in her arms.

This life he had was far from the one he would have expected or asked for; he thought he would spend the rest of his life living only for himself, and that was all he needed. But now that he had more, he never wanted to be without it. How quickly this could all be taken away… but he would be strong for both of them, so that they would want for nothing.


	6. Keeping Secrets

It did not take long for Vergil and his family to become accustomed to their new schedule. Though Vergil was a bit reluctant to leave his wife and son alone by themselves for long periods of the day, the two of them were managing quite well. Work wasn’t stressful for her, either, and she enjoyed the convenience of her job as well as the feeling of being useful to her family.

Today, Alisha had invited Dante over to their home for dinner. At first he said he didn’t want to impose in them, but she insisted, and said that it would be nice to spend some time with him outside of the office. So he arrived at their house in the late afternoon, and she greeted him with a smile.

“Hello, Dante,” she said as she let him in the door. “Please, make yourself at home. Vergil’s taking care of Augustine upstairs.” When Dante entered the home, he could smell something savory wafting through the house, not unlike the scent he smelled when he first paid a “visit” to their home. When he caught a glimpse of the oven, he could see a pork roasting in it, covered with an assortment of herbs. He was suddenly reminded of the family dinners his mother made. They weren’t exactly special occasions since they had them every night, but nonetheless it was nice to be a part of one again.

A few minutes later, Vergil came downstairs with his son in his arms. Even though it had only been a month since Dante saw him for the first time, he could tell that his nephew had already grown some. Still small, of course, but he was definitely bigger.

“Guess they’ve been feeding you well,” Dante said as he gently ruffled Augustine’s hair. Vergil gave his brother an irritated look as he fixed his son’s hair before placing him in the pram and making his way to the kitchen to assist his wife. “I know he’s a hardass,” Dante said as he peered into the pram. “But you’ll get used to him.”

Fifteen minutes later, dinner was ready, and the three of them were arranged around the small dining table. It was a relaxing and pleasant meal, and Alisha was eager to know more about Dante and Vergil’s life.

“Yeah, Verge always acted like he was the smarter one because he was a few minutes older. ‘Older and wiser’, and all that,” Dante said. “But I could still kick his ass at least half of the time.” Alisha chuckled at his remark. “Of course, dear old dad didn’t want us to use what he taught us on each other unless we were practicing. And Mom was always worried about us going at each other with wooden swords at such a young age.” 

“Your father taught you how to fight?" Alisha asked.

“Yeah. Not all that surprising considering he’s-“

Dante’s sentence was cut off with a loud yell of pain as he felt something stabbed into the back of his hand, which made Augustine start crying. He lifted his hand and saw that the prongs of a metal fork were lodged into it. When he pulled it out, blood quickly started pouring from the punctures and dripped onto the clean table.

“My apologies, brother, I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing,” Vergil said as he stood from his seat and grabbed Dante’s arm. “I’ll take you to the bathroom to get that cleaned up.” Before Dante could say another word, his brother all but dragged him to the bathroom near the back of the house.

* * *

Vergil shoved Dante into the small bathroom before shutting the door behind them and turning on the lights. Dante quickly turned the metal knob on the sink before placing his hand under the cold water.

“What the hell was that for?!” Dante said as he gently scrubbed his hand.

“She doesn’t know who our father is yet,” Vergil replied.

“So what? She already knows you’re a half demon, right? I don’t think it’s gonna be much of a surprise for her to find out our father’s a full-fledged demon.”

“That’s not the point.” Vergil sighed before continuing. “Fortuna, the island where she came from… the people there worship Sparda as their Savior.” Dante’s jaw dropped at this revelation, leaving the water running despite the fact that he had stopped bleeding a while ago.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me…” he finally said as he turned the water off.

“It’s true; every week the citizens gather in a large church to honor our father, and listen to scriptures on how to lead a pious life. Their religion is called 'The Order of the Sword', and they're devoted to eliminating all demons from Earth.” Dante shook his head as he dried his hands with a nearby white towel.

“So she’s married to the son of her god and she probably thinks she's entered some kind of holy bloodline… well, if she knew, that is. So why haven’t you told her?”

“I couldn’t very well have told her when I first met her; she wouldn’t have believed me and probably would have thought I was crazy. Even after we were married, I didn’t want to risk anyone find out in case they used her against me. I don’t want to have a repeat of what happened to our mother…” The twins were quiet for a moment as Dante replaced the towel on the rack. “I know I can’t keep it from her forever… but I don’t know how I should bring it up, or how she’ll react.”

“Is everything all right?” Alisha’s voice called.

“Everything’s fine,” Vergil replied from the closed door.

“Look,” Dante said. “I get why you’re worried about her knowing who our dad is; but taking everything into consideration, I really think you should be honest with her with something this big.” 

“I know… just please, don’t tell her. I’ll tell her eventually; I just need to find out how.”

“Well, all right… but the longer it takes, the harder it’s gonna be.”

They both returned to the kitchen as Alisha was putting Augustine back in his pram. Dante’s hand had long since healed, and he wiped away the drops of blood left on the table with a napkin.

“What were you saying about your father, Dante?” Alisha asked as she returned to her seat.

“Yeah…” Dante replied, trying to quickly think of an answer. “He was a… demon hunter as well; he wanted us to learn how to protect ourselves from demons early on. He was a demon himself, of course, but then he reformed and settled down.”

Vergil did not take any pride in being dishonest with his wife, but at least what Dante said wasn’t a complete lie, as their father was indeed a reformed demon; he just neglected to mention the detail where his father was the same reformed demon that she worshipped. He would tell her the truth eventually… he just didn’t know how.

After dinner, Dante stayed for a bit, helping clear away the dishes and spent some more time in the company of his brother’s family. By early evening he had returned home, leaving Vergil and his wife to have the rest of the night to themselves.

“He’s growing so quickly,” Alisha said as she placed Augustine in the bassinet. “I know it’s only been two months since he was born, but it’s hard to imagine him walking around one day.” She leaned her head against her husband’s shoulder as she watched her son fall asleep. How innocent he was, free of the knowledge of the horrors of the world, and protected by those who loved him… it was difficult to believe that there was once a time when Vergil could say the same about himself.

“You were all alone after your mother died, weren’t you?” she said. “When we first met, you told me that there was no one waiting for you. And you were just a child…”

“It’s true,” he replied. “I had to quickly learn how to become more powerful to protect myself, and to survive on my own. I couldn’t trust anyone but myself.” He felt her firmly squeeze his hand with her own. There were countless stories he could tell her of his many near death experiences with demons, how he quickly became desensitized to the sight of death, how he soon learned that strength did not come without sacrifice… but perhaps he would tell her another time; the last thing he wanted was to give her more distress than she already had.


	7. Picking Up the Pieces

Alisha had been coughing for the past few days. She took some cough syrup and tried to hide her discomfort as best she could, but the state of her health became clear when she became winded in the middle of her normal routine at work, which made Vergil take her home early. By the next morning, she was feeling weaker, and was coughing up thick mucus into her tissues. When her husband took her to a doctor that afternoon, she was diagnosed with bronchitis. It was caught early, at least, which meant that recovery should be easier. Still, despite trying to downplay her sickness, it was obvious to Vergil that she was feeling miserable with all of her symptoms, especially since she needed his help to walk.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he sat on the bed next to where she lay.

“Fine,” she replied before coughing back into her tissue again.

“How are you really feeling?”

She sighed as she dropped the tissue into the waste basket and took another one from the box on the table.

“My head is throbbing, my entire body aches, and I can’t stop coughing. But I’ll be fine.” She coughed once more as Vergil took the clear, empty glass from the table before going downstairs. He supposed it wasn’t a surprise that she became ill again after being exposed to so many new environments, but even though the doctor said she would make a full recovery with rest and medicine, he still feared that each day she was sick would be her last. Each cough and moan of pain intensified his worry, despite the fact that this was not the first time he had taken care of her when she was ill, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. That is, unless he could find a way to heal her body of its condition… but how?

After he finished filling the glass with water from the kitchen sink, he heard the wall phone ringing. He placed the glass on the counter before picking up the phone.

“Hello?” he said.

“Hey, Verge?” Dante’s voice said from the other line. “I don’t suppose you happen to know a creepy looking bald guy with half his face messed up.”

As soon as his brother said those words, Vergil’s heartbeat became loud enough for him to hear in the quiet house.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I’m gonna take that as a ‘yes’. Anyways, he came visiting my shop a few minutes ago and sent a horde of demons to wreck the place. Then a gigantic tower popped up in the middle of the city. Sound familiar?”

Vergil should have known this would have happened; he thought that since Arkham couldn’t possibly unseal Sparda’s power without his help, he would have pursued other endeavors of gaining power if his colleague disappeared from his life without a word. But clearly, he was determined to gain the power of the legendary dark knight, and the raising of Temen-ni-gru must be his way of sending Vergil a little “reminder” of their mission. It seemed he had underestimated just how strong this human’s lust for power was… Did he know that Vergil had a wife and child? Did he know where they lived? Was he planning on sending demons after them next if Vergil didn’t accept his “invitation’? Had Vergil known this was going to happen, he would have hunted down and killed him as soon as he could. But it was too late for that; the only thing he could do now was formulate a plan to eliminate him and stop him from causing more chaos than he already has.

“All right,” Vergil said. “I think this is what we should do…”

For several minutes, he explained the details to his brother of who Arkham was, what the Temen-ni-gru tower was, and the best way to stop him from taking Sparda’s power for himself. It was risky, and he knew that Arkham would be expecting a betrayal, but so would Vergil, something he suspected since the beginning of their “alliance”. Still, he knew that he would accept his help without question; after all, he needed both sons of Sparda for his purpose, and he wouldn’t be about to refuse one of them willing to assist him.

Before he left, he delivered the glass of water to his wife, who smiled at him until she saw his worried expression.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“There’s someone very dangerous my brother and I need to stop,” he said as he set the glass on the table. “I have to go now, and I don’t know when I’ll be back.” She took his hand in hers as he was about to leave.

“Vergil… please be careful.” He gave her a short, but loving kiss before opening a portal to Arkham’s location. He hoped that the protective spell he placed the cottage under would keep any demons that visit it at bay.

* * *

So the plan was turning out okay so far; Vergil explained to Dante that, about a year ago, he met Arkham, who informed him of the Temen-ni-gru, a tower that served as a passageway from the Demon World to the Human World. It was also where their father sealed his power, and, in turn, closing off the bridge between the two worlds for good. Well, at least until now. So the two formed an alliance, where they would assist each other in unsealing the tower and unlocking Sparda’s power. They also planned on luring Dante to the tower, since he had the other half of the Perfect Amulet, which were one of the keys to unsealing the tower. That is, until Vergil dropped Arkham like a sack of potatoes to settle down with his wife and son, which made the creepy old guy have to take matters into his own hands.

But things were going okay; Arkham accepted Vergil back with open arms as expected, which hopefully meant that he wouldn’t send a demon party after Alisha and the kid like he did to Dante. As for Dante’s role, making his way through the tower’s many chambers was a piece of cake. Of course, he could have done without getting brutally stabbed multiple times, even if it was to lead Arkham on, but at least he was now able to tap into his full demonic powers. That girl was a bit of a nuisance, but she barely slowed him down. Now he met up with his brother in the control room. Apparently, since Sparda’s blood and the separation of the amulets sealed the tower and lowered it into the Demon World, replicating that process with the blood of his descendant should do the same thing.

After rejoining the amulets, Vergil ran the palm of his hand against his blade, and the blood dripped into the circular indentation on the ground. Dante braced himself for the worst as he watched his brother’s blood flow across the floor, hoping that they didn’t just accidentally open the passage to the Demon World to let all hell break loose.

And then… nothing.

“Uh… is this supposed to happen?” he asked.

“I don’t understand…” Vergil replied with irritation in his voice. “Why isn’t this working? What are we missing?”

Before either of them could come up with an idea of what to do next, a missile came flying right towards Vergil. In an instant he sliced it in half with his blade, and the two halves fell to the ground. At the entrance of the room was the same woman Dante encountered before, looking more angry than usual.

“Sorry, but we’re both in the middle of something here, so beat it,” Dante said.

“Shut up!” the woman shouted. She shot at Dante to get him out of the way so that she could attack Vergil, but he only knocked her missile launcher out of the way with ease. He tried to strike her with his blade, but she quickly blocked his attack with her launcher.

“You… you forced him into this!” she cried. “You made him kill my mother!”

“Is that what you really think?” Vergil scoffed. “Foolish girl.”

While she was distracted, Dante tried to take a swing at her, but she leapt out of the way, making sure that there was a large amount of distance between her and the two demons.

“Look, babe, I don’t wanna hurt a pretty girl like you,” Dante said. “But we’re trying to fix something here, so I’d appreciate it if you-“

His words were suddenly interrupted with a bullet to the face. A split second later, she did the same to his brother, which caught him off guard just long enough for her to charge at him with her bayonet. He blocked her attack once more as Dante ran towards her, prepared to strike. She evaded his attack by leaping out of the way once more. Whoever this girl was, she was damn determined to kill both of them.

The battle continued as the twins tried to attack the mysterious woman, who preferred to attack them at a distance. For as much as Dante tried to convince her to leave them alone, it was clear she wasn’t going to stop until they were both dead. All three of them were growing more tired by each passing second, for they all had been fighting demons almost nonstop since they arrived at the tower, not to mention the scuffle between the two brothers had earlier. Then, when there was a brief break in the action, they heard the sound of someone clapping.

“Bravo! Bravo! I never dreamed that things would go so smoothly. Well done everyone, well done!”

When they turned around, Dante saw a familiar looking clown taunting them, looking annoying as usual.

“You!” Dante said. The woman pointed her launcher at Jester in response, to which he grabbed at it.

“Don’t be a bad girl, Mary,” he taunted. Then he roughly threw the launcher upwards, causing her body to fly through the air and land face down on the floor with a loud thud. “Or you can expect a spanking from daddy later. Jester's gonna spank your butt, spank you on the butt-“

“Silence!” Vergil shouted. “I don't know where you came from but you don't belong here. Now leave!” He tried to strike the fool, but Jester caught the blade in his hand, showing no sign of pain as his blood pooled onto the ground.

“Zowie, that was close. But you've taken quite a trouncing today, haven't you, Vergil? You could have chopped me into confetti by now if you're in your tip-top condition.”

“Damn you!”

“You have lost…” Jester continued, except it wasn’t his voice; it was one that was all too familiar to Vergil. It caught him off guard for just a second, long enough for Jester to hit Vergil hard enough to slide across the ground. “Because you’ve become too attached to the humanity that you once shunned.” Suddenly standing before them was Arkham, looking prideful and triumphant. While Vergil had told Dante that he was fully excepting Arkham to stab him in the back, he probably wasn’t expecting this to happen.

“What’s going on?!” Mary demanded.

“Good girl… pure and innocent… just like your mother."

“You bastard!” She pointed her gun at him, but suddenly Jester appeared behind her and grabbed her by the head.

“What was that you were saying about ‘pesky fatherly love’, Vergil?” Jester taunted. “Did you really think you had any right to lecture me about being ‘incomplete’ when you’ve got a little waif and a brat of your own waiting for you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vergil snarled.

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me; I may look like a fool, but I’m not an idiot. Perhaps I need to teach you a lesson in ‘family bonding’.” He pulled Mary’s head back and looked down menacingly at his daughter before shouting “It's time for your spanking, my dear!” Then he gave her head a hard slam on the ground. “You want to know why the spell didn't break, hmm, Vergil? You have two amulets, and Sparda's blood. You've got everything you needed to play the hero just like dear old daddy…”

“I told you before I don't like anybody with a bigger mouth than mine,” Dante said before firing his pistols at Jester, who gleefully ran away from his bullets as he ran across the room.

“You are wounded and weak, even I can do...” Then he jumped down at Dante and kicked him to the ground. “ _This_ to you!”

“Two amulets,” Arkham continued, “a set of Sparda's blood. Now I need one more key.” He bent down and picked up Mary’s missile launcher. “He sacrificed two things to suppress the tremendous force of this tower: His own Devil's blood, and a mortal priestess.”

Suddenly, he stabbed Mary in the leg with the bayonet, causing her to groan in pain as her blood spilled. “I needed you, in whose body flows the same blood as the sacrificed woman. His spell cannot be undone without your blood!”

Well shit.

“It is quite a ride, you know,” Jester said. “If any of you had died, my little plan would have gone to waste! So my job is to let you battle each other and weaken you, but at the same time I need to guide you here to make sure you are kept alive. I've gone so far as dressing like a complete idiot! It's time for bed, Mary. You can go to visit your dear mother...” He started laughing manically in triumph, until Mary kicked her launcher out of his grip and pointed it straight at him.

“Try me!” she said. Then Dante and Vergil’s swords were crossed against the back of Jester’s neck, trapping him between the three of them.

“It is time for the clown to bow out, Arkham,” Vergil said.

“Dude, the show’s over!” Dante added.

“Impressive,” Arkham remarked. “I expected nothing less from the devil's descendants. But aren't you forgetting something, Vergil? The spell is broken. What do you think will happen next?” It was then that the indentation on the ground that was filled with blood began to rise. “Let's welcome chaos.”

The three quickly attempted to attack him as the room began to rumble and debris fell around them, but he swipe kicked all of them off the rising platform.

“Just sit and wait...” he continued as the platform rose even higher. “Wait for the birth of a new god! I shall take over the power of Sparda!”

Dante watched as the ground beneath them began falling apart, and just caught a glimpse of his unconscious brother’s body fall with it.

“Verge!” he cried, but it was too late to try to catch him now. Then he saw the same thing about to happen to Mary, and he was just barely able to grab her hand and pull her up to safety.

So much for the plan…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope I did okay at manipulating the canon.


	8. Return

When Vergil regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the intense throbbing in his head. The second thing he noticed was that he was back at the very bottom of the tower, and neither Dante nor the strange woman were anywhere to be seen.

He slowly stood to his feet as he rubbed his temple; right at this very moment, Arkham had the power of Sparda right within his grasp, and the twins had the final key right under their noses all along. He should have known that Arkham wouldn’t have told him everything about unsealing the tower… but that no longer mattered; he needed to stop him before he unleashed chaos into the world.

 _Alisha_ he thought as he continued on his way. _I hope you and Augustine are safe_.

When he eventually reached the library, he caught a glimpse of the woman in the corner of his eye, sitting on the ground with a bloodied bandage wrapped her leg where she was impaled. He ignored her presence and walked towards the door to the exit.

“You’re his brother, right?” she asked. He stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her.

“What of it?” he replied.

“He told me that you had a wife and child back at home, and that it gives him the strength to keep fighting. That was why he did all of this, he said, to make sure there’s still a world worth living in for those he cares about…” She let out a small grunt of bemusement. “Funny… I always thought demons were nothing but pure evil and incapable of love. And then it turns out I meet two of them who are fighting for their family… How is it that a demon is a better father than my own?”

Not even he could give her an answer to that; in fact, not long ago, he too would have thought he was incapable of love. And now he had a wife at home who was anxiously awaiting his return. But he didn’t have time to ponder on that now; he needed to find Dante, and get rid of Arkham for good.

“Hey,” she said before he left. “Be careful.” He gave a small nod of acknowledgement before continuing on his way.

Before long, he caught up with his brother, and after a lengthy battle they both defeated Arkham’s grotesque form, kicking him out of the Demon World, leaving him in his daughter's hands. When he was gone, they both dove after their respective amulets, landing even further into hell.

“Well, looks like our job here is done,” Dante said as he recovered his amulet. “Let’s get out of here before the pathway closes.”

But Vergil barely registered his brother’s words as he gazed at his half of the Perfect Amulet. His father’s power was right here at his fingertips… that fool Arkham may not have been able to properly utilize it, but that was because it was never meant to belong to him; Sparda’s power was Vergil’s birthright, and now it would finally be his. With this strength, he could easily destroy anything that was foolish enough to wish harm on his wife and child. Perhaps he would even gain the power to cure Alisha of any and all ailments, and make her stronger than ever before. By his side, she would be his queen, striking fear and reverence in all. No one would dare speak a hateful word of her when her husband was the most powerful demon in hell…

“Verge, you had better not be thinking what I think you are,” Dante warned. His brother simply looked up at him as he clutched his amulet.

“Tell me, Dante,” Vergil said. “If you knew of a way that would protect the ones you love from harm, wouldn’t you take it? Would you not want them to have that peace of mind, to let them know that you would do anything to keep them safe?” Suddenly, Dante pulled out his gun and aimed it at his twin, looking reluctant, but no less serious with his threat.

“Don’t make me have to tell Alisha that I did what I had to do to keep her husband from destroying the Human World.”

Vergil let out a scoff.

“So you would kill your own brother for the sin of wanting to protect his family.”

“Do you think that this is what she would want? Demons running loose in the Human World and causing mass destruction?”

“It’s a price I’m willing to pay, something she’ll understand in time.”

“Do you really care about that? Or is this just an excuse you’re using to ease your conscience?”

Rage suddenly erupted through Vergil’s veins, and with a shout he unsheathed his blade and attacked his brother, who quickly blocked him with the Force Edge. 

“I would have thought you understood,” Vergil said as he firmly pushed his blade against Dante’s. “Wouldn’t you have done anything to save our mother?”

“But she wouldn’t have wanted this, and neither would Alisha; I know you want to protect her, but destroying the life she wanted to live with you is not how to do it.” They briefly separated, and Dante slightly stepped away from his brother. “Look at how much she loves living in the Human World with you. Is destroying it really going to be worth it if you’re going to force her life into a literal living hell?”

Vergil’s grip remained tight around Yamato’s hilt, but he remained unmoving. Of course this was all for her; why else was he going above and beyond for the sake of power? It was because he loved her, and loving her meant protecting her at all costs. Surely she would understand, even if it took a long a time for her to forgive him.

Still… even if she did, would she be happy?

“I know how much you want to protect her,” Dante said. “But her happiness is just as important as her safety, isn’t it?”

Vergil was loathe to admit it, but his brother was right; it was true that he wanted to protect his wife and child at all costs. But he also promised to make her happy. After all, it was why he took her away from Fortuna to start a new life together. Making her unhappy because of his actions would mean failing her, even if he did it for the sake of protecting her. He cursed himself for not being able to do both, but for her sake he would turn his back on immeasurable strength, if it meant keeping her from a life of despair.

“Fine,” he finally said as he curtly sheathed his blade. “Let’s get out of here, before I change my mind.”

* * *

Alisha coughed as she sat in the rocking chair with Augustine in her arms. She had only gotten two hours of sleep, and the sun was now beginning to rise. While she was still frequently coughing, it was mostly fear that was keeping her from sleeping. Vergil had only said a few words to her before promptly leaving, saying he needed to stop someone dangerous. She knew her husband was strong, but his urgency filled her with terror, and being only with her infant son to keep her company did nothing to distract her from her worries.

Just as she put her child in the bassinet and was about to go in the bedroom to try to get back to sleep, she suddenly heard the door open.

“Vergil?” she called. Still feeling weak, she slowly made her way down the hall and held onto the railing as she carefully walked down the stairs. When she was halfway down, what she saw nearly made her run down the steps.

Vergil was safe. He looked exhausted, and a little worse for wear, but he was safe. When he saw her, he quickly made his way to the bottom of the stairs, and she fell into his open arms. She almost started crying as his arms tightly coiled around her body, and she pressed her head against his chest, wanting to make sure he was truly here.

“What are you doing up?” he asked. “Don’t tell me you stayed up all night waiting for me.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” she replied as she separated from him. “What happened when you were gone? Never mind, you can tell me tomorrow; we could both use some rest.” She coughed once more as she went upstairs and into the bedroom, with Vergil following close behind.

“How is he?” Vergil asked as he slipped his coat off. He sounded as tired as he looked.

“Fine,” she replied. “I was just finishing up taking care of him when you came home, so he should sleep for a while. How about you? Is there anything you need?”

“No; there’s a lot a need to tell you, but that can wait.” When he changed into his bedclothes, he climbed into bed by her side, kissing her as he held her in his embrace. He fell asleep almost immediately, and it didn’t take long for her to do the same. She knew that this job would come with many dangers. But for now, they would enjoy a moment of peace, and leave their troubles until they awakened.


	9. Truth and Forgiveness

Vergil had planned to stay at home with his wife for a week while she recovered from the worst of her bronchitis symptoms. She was gradually getting better, but she knew it would be at least a few weeks before she could safely start working again. At least Dante had someone new to help him after his latest mission.

Today, Alisha was much better than she was the previous week; she was able to walk around the house without feeling weak and she was rarely coughing. He had yet to tell her what his sudden mission with his brother had entailed, for he didn’t want to give her more stress; he had simply told her that someone dangerous was about to open the tunnel between the Demon World and the Human World, and now that tunnel was safely tucked away in hell once more.

Still, after this incident he knew he couldn’t keep his heritage a secret from her any longer, and he could only imagine how betrayed she would feel knowing that not just her husband, but his brother and new associate was keeping such important information from her. And clearly, trying to keep his ancestry a secret from her wasn’t enough to keep Arkham off his back. So one afternoon, while she was sitting on the sofa, he told her that there was something very important that he needed to tell her.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked as he sat next to her.

“No,” he replied. “But it’s something I should have told you a long time ago…” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I haven’t told you everything about the mission my brother and I had; the one who tried to open the passage to the Demon World was a man named Arkham. He wanted to unseal the tower so that he could gain the power that Sparda locked away.” She looked at him in surprise at this revelation.

“The Savior’s power…? But no human could ever be capable of wielding such power; that’s what I’ve always been told.”

“Indeed. That power was what caused his undoing.” He became tenser as he prepared himself to tell her of his lineage, and it seemed as though she could sense his apprehension with how worried she looked. “Alisha… the truth is, Arkham was initially the one that was assisting me in raising the tower, and I was the one intending the gain Sparda’s power. But he was using me, just as I had used him, because one of the keys to unsealing the tower was my blood. And that’s because…” He stopped one more time before he finally told her the truth he was withholding from her since they met. “It’s because Sparda’s blood flows through me and my brother’s veins.”

Vergil watched as his wife’s jaw ever so slightly drop, her eyes widening in pure shock and the color slowly beginning to drain from her cheeks. It sounded as though she tried to say something, but all that was released from her mouth was a barely audible sound that almost sounded as though she was about to scream or cry.

“Alisha?” he said. She made no indication that she heard him. “Alisha, please, say something.”

Not a second later, her eyes closed as her body fell forward, and he quickly caught her before she fell off the sofa. He carefully set her back on the sofa so that she was lying down. Luckily, she looked to be fine aside from losing consciousness. Still, this was not the reaction that he had anticipated, and he wondered how well she would handle the news once she awakened.

* * *

Alisha’s vision was fuzzy as she opened her eyes, her head still feeling dizzy. The last thing she remembered was Vergil telling her more details on the mission he and his brother were on, about how there was a dangerous man he used to work with who wanted to gain Sparda's power. Then he told her that he and his brother had Sparda’s blood…

“Vergil…?” she said as she began to sit up. But she was quickly stopped by her husband, who guided her back to a laying position.

“Don’t sit up so quickly,” he said. Of course; sitting up too quickly might make her faint again. But she wasn’t about to neglect what he just told her.

“Vergil… did you just say what I think you said?”

“I did; Sparda was my father.” Just hearing those four words almost made her lose consciousness a second time today. Vergil, the man she invited into her home, fell in love with, carried his child, and was now currently married to and living with, was the son of the Savior she worshipped for as long as she could remember. Had she not fainted a moment ago, she would have thought she was in a strange dream.

“If you’re the son of the Savior… then that means Augustine is…” Vergil said nothing, but she knew very well what Augustine’s heritage was now. “Vergil… why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you have believed me when we first met?”

“No, I suppose not. But why not when we found out I was with child? Or when we were married? Or even when we moved here?” She saw his eyes turn downward in regret.

“I thought if you knew, someone would find out and use you as leverage against me. Even if it couldn’t protect you from everyone, I thought if you didn’t know, then they couldn’t use that knowledge against you. But it seems that wasn’t enough…”

So he had kept his heritage a secret for her safety. While she could understand the reason for his lack of transparency, that still didn’t alleviate the shock of what she had just been told. Had she told him earlier, she of course still would have been surprised, but after everything that happened between them, knowing that she had given birth to one of the Savior’s descendants…

“I’m sorry I kept this from you,” Vergil finally said. No, she couldn't be angry at him; he had eventually told her, even if she would have liked to have known sooner, and he kept it a secret for a good reason. but that still didn't stop her body from feeling as though she was constantly shaking.

“I… I understand. And I forgive you… but I just need some time to process this…” 

The rest of the day was spent in an awkward silence, with neither one knowing what to say regarding what had transpired that day. It was as though they were waiting for the other person to say something first, but it only ended with both of them not saying a word. Even saying simple pleasantries to each other felt awkward, feeling as though they were trying to avoid a situation they knew they couldn’t. They couldn’t even look at each other for more than a few seconds without averting their gaze, something that pained her greatly; she knew this silence had to stop eventually, and she wanted it to happen sooner rather than later.

That night, after she was finished feeding her son and put him to bed, she noticed her husband beginning to undress in their room, hanging his coat in its usual place. So she quickly approached him, gently grabbed him by the arm, and placed a kiss on his lips.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“I wanted you to know that even though it’s going to take me some time getting used to being the wife of the Savior’s son, nothing will change how I feel about you; I love you. And I won’t let this cause a rift between us.”

He looked surprised for a moment, and she hoped she didn’t make things even more awkward for them. Then he suddenly pulled her close to his chest and locked her mouth into a deep kiss. She closed her eyes as his tongue slipped into her mouth, feeling as though she would melt in his arms. Then at last he pulled away, leaving her cheeks a bright red.

“Shall we continue?” he asked in a low voice. She quickly nodded her head.

It was not long until their clothes were shed and left in a heap on the bedroom floor. They had both restrained from intercourse for a while, and she was eager to resume. His hands roamed across her body, making certain he didn’t cause her any discomfort, and she quietly moaned when she felt his fingers tease at her entrance as he sucked at her neck.

After making sure she was adequately wet, his slowly inserted inside of her, making her gasp as he filled her completely. Slowly, he began thrusting, and pleasure rippled through her body each time he hit deep inside her.

“How does this feel?” he asked between groans.

“Good…” she sighed as looked up at him. How handsome he looked, those beautiful blue eyes gazing into hers as he drowned her in bliss. And how lucky she was, knowing this was only for her…

A moment later he bent down to kiss her, the speed and force of his thrusts increasing as his tongue found hers. She was thankful that his mouth was muffling her moans, for the pleasure was becoming too much for her to stay silent. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling her slick passage tighten around his length as she was near climax…

A shaky moan was silenced by him as she came, her eyes squeezing shut as euphoria enveloped her completely. She gasped when his mouth separated from hers, and she heard him groan as she felt his seed quickly flood her entrance, still feeling lightheaded from her climax as his body tensed against her. After a moment, he withdrew from her, admiring the trail of his semen that was released from her passage. Then he slowly rolled to his side, and she soon pressed herself close to his chest, letting herself completely relax in his embrace.

“Have I made it up to you?” he asked.

“Well… I’d say it’s at least a start.” She smiled as he pulled the covers over them, and she let her mind drift off to sleep. Being married to the son of the Savior would not be easy to become accustomed to, but as long as he was always by her side, she would be content.


	10. Normalcy and Pizza

Alisha was eager to return to work once she was in peak condition again. Dante seemed happy to have her back as well, saying that he was glad to have someone who wasn’t “constantly on his back” when he was at the office. When she arrived, she was soon introduced to a woman named Lady, whom Dante and Vergil met when they needed to reseal the Temen-ni-gru. Dante had explained that she was a new associate who would take on demon hunting missions. She looked to be around Alisha's age. 

“And this is Augustine,” Dante said as he motioned towards the pram. “Cute, isn’t he?”

Lady stepped towards the pram and her eyes lit up the moment she saw who was inside; she was nothing short of smitten when she saw Augustine looking up curiously at her with his bright blue eyes. It looked as though she was trying not to make her excitement obvious, but it was clear that she was taken by how cute he was. 

“Geez, you’re acting like you’ve never seen a baby before,” Dante teased, to which Lady shot him a displeased glare.

“Do you want to hold him?” Alisha asked as she stood from the couch.

“Oh, um, I never really…” Lady replied.

“You don’t need to worry.” She gently gathered her son in her arms before carefully placing him in Lady’s. “You just need to support him like this.” She adjusted Lady’s hand so that it was supporting Augustine’s head. It did not take long for a smile to appear on her face when she heard him coo, looking down at how content he looked.

“Careful, Verge, you might be minus one kid when you get home,” Dante said. Lady turned her head his way to face him, the smile quickly dropping.

“I’m still mad at you about my bike,” she said.

“Eh, worth a shot. Hey wait a sec, how come he didn’t cry when you held him?”

Later, Dante and Vergil headed off for an assignment, with Vergil reminding his wife not to push herself too hard before he left. In the meantime, Alisha allowed Lady to hold Augustine while she looked over some paperwork. It was nice to have someone new at the business, since that meant she probably wouldn’t spend as many hours alone; while some peace and quiet with her son was nice, it could also get lonely sometimes when Dante and Vergil were spending long hours on the job; sometimes they got a new mission as soon as they returned to the office.

“So your husband and his brother,” Lady said. “They’re very… interesting.” Alisha chuckled as she set a sheet of paper aside.

“That’s one way of putting it,” she replied. “Even though they’re very different from each other, there’s never a dull moment when they’re around. Sometimes they start arguing over the pettiest of things, like when Dante left a slice of pizza laying around at the bar; he insisted that he was saving it for later, but Vergil wasn’t having any of it. I told them that if they didn’t stop, I would make them hold hands.” Lady started laughing at Alisha’s story, being careful not to disturb Augustine. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way; I never would have imagined having such a loving, supportive family, and there’s so much more I’m looking forward to.”

* * *

“What. The. Hell.”

Dante looked down at the open pizza box on his desk, letting the scent waft through the air. Half of it was topped with savory, bright red pepperoni over hot, gooey cheese. The other half was tarnished with little black olives, spoiling an otherwise beautiful pie.

“Oh, did the pizza get here?” Alisha asked as she left the bathroom.

“Yeah…” Dante replied, trying as hard as he could to hide the disgust in his voice. He was still staring at the monstrosity before Alisha arrived with a set of plates, taking a slice of the olive side. As she was about to walk away, Augustine let out a little coo, as though he was interested in what his mother was doing.

“You’re a bit too little right now,” she said with a smile. “But I’ll let you try some when you’re older.” Then she took a seat at the bar, cutting the tip of the slice with a knife and fork before taking a bite.

There were two things wrong with this picture: One, she was happily chowing down on olive pizza. Two, she was eating it with a knife and fork. She was nice girl and very pretty, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t weird. Hell, she wasn’t even a big fan of ice cream. Who the heck didn’t like ice cream?

“Care to tell me why you’re staring at my wife?” Dante was so preoccupied gawking at what he just saw that he didn’t even hear his brother approach him.

“Care to tell _me_ why this pizza has olives on it?” Dante replied as he pointed at the remaining slices.

“Alisha said she liked olives, so that’s what I ordered. Besides, half of it is still without.”

“Yeah, but you still ruined a perfectly good pizza.” Vergil let out a “tch” before taking an olive slice, as well as a knife and fork.

“You’re such a child.”

“Not my fault you don’t appreciate the art of pizza; you two are even using a knife and fork like it’s a steak.” Vergil rolled his eyes before joining his wife at the bar, and she smiled as he took a seat right next to her. Then they started talking about something, but Dante wasn’t about to pry into their personal business. So he took a slice of the pepperoni side, holding it in one hand while the other flipped through the paperwork Alisha told him to look at. 

Guess they really were made for each other.


	11. Surprises

The twins had just completed a mission in the late afternoon. Someone had called in regards to a rather nasty demon that was killing people in their sleep the past few nights. Luckily, the two were able to find its hiding spot, and eliminated the problem with ease.

“You ready to head back to the office?” Dante asked.

“Not yet,” Vergil replied. “There’s something I need to do first.”

The place where Vergil needed to go to was on the way back, so Dante followed his brother until they stopped at a small shop with a sign in fancy script that said _Redgrave Jeweler’s_. Inside were glass display cases filled with a myriad of jewelry made from various precious stones and metals arranged on black velvet, with some looking far more expensive than others.

When Vergil arrived at the counter, he informed the shopkeeper of his order, to which she went through a door at the rear wall before returning with a small black box. Inside was a sterling silver oval locket, with three lilies engraved on the front. It was a fairly inexpensive piece, but Vergil had a feeling his wife would like it all the same.

After he paid the shopkeeper, she closed the box before tying it shut with a white satin ribbon. He thanked the woman before carefully placing the box inside his breast pocket, and left with his brother.

“Something for Alisha, I’m guessing?” Dante asked as they made their way home.

“Yes,” Vergil replied. “Our first anniversary is next week.”

“Wait, what?!” Dante suddenly ran in front of his brother, preventing him from moving any further. “You didn’t tell me your anniversary was right around the corner.”

“I didn’t know you cared that much.”

“Well no shit I care about my brother and his wife’s first anniversary. Do you have anything planned?”

“Nothing in particular; just a quiet night at home and giving her this locket.” Vergil stepped around his brother and tried to continue on his way, but Dante blocked him once more.

“No way; you two are having the whole day to yourselves while I watch the kid.”

“That’s really not necessary.” Vergil tried to maneuver around Dante, but was instantly blocked before he could take a step, much to his annoyance. 

“Look, your first anniversary only happens once; why not spend one whole day just between the two of you, doing whatever you like, while Augustine stays with me until morning?”

It was difficult for Vergil to imagine their son in the hands of anyone except himself of Alisha, much less his brother. After all, they were the ones who knew their child’s needs as though by instinct. Still, if anyone was going to watch after Augustine, it might as well be someone that they both knew. And perhaps Alisha would enjoy a day with just her husband. He would have to think of something quickly…

“Fine,” Vergil replied. “If that’s what it takes for you stop pestering me.” Dante responded with a smile before stepping out of his brother’s way.

“I knew you’d come around.”

* * *

Alisha looked over the black pocket watch as she sat on the wooden bench. As she was pondering over what she should get Vergil for their first anniversary, she recalled how her mother gifted her father a pocket watch for their first year of marriage. He had it on his person at all times, and still had it in his breast pocket when he was buried. So she decided that she would do the same, and she was happy to see that the nearby shopping plaza had a shop that specialized in watches. She was also glad to see that she was able to purchase one for a reasonable price.

“So how does it feel being married for a year?” Lady asked. When she heard that Alisha was going out to pick something up at the shopping plaza, she insisted that she join her, saying that it would be fun to have some “girl time”, plus Augustine. They spent some time browsing the various shops after Alisha picked up the pocket watch, before taking a quick break.

“It’s hard to believe,” Alisha replied as she placed the pocket watch in its box before putting it in her satchel. “If you would have told me that the strange outsider I met would become my husband and father of my child, I never would have believed you for a moment.” She leaned forward so that she was hovering over Augustine, who lay in his pram, and took his tiny hand between her fingers. “Sometimes I wonder if this is all just a dream, Vergil, Augustine, this life we have together… but day after day I wake up, and I know this is real.” She bent down so that she could place a kiss on Augustine’s hair.

“You know,” Lady said. “That’s not the only thing you could get Vergil.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind seeing you wear that negligee we saw a couple minutes ago.” Alisha’s cheeks suddenly felt very warm.

“Oh… well, maybe, but…”

“What? You’re both happily married, aren’t you? Nothing wrong with spicing things up. And I know you wouldn’t mind it, if that book I saw you reading is anything to go by.” At this point, Alisha’s face was burning, and all she could say was a tiny, embarrassed squeak. “Come on, it’ll be an extra surprise for him to end the night with.”

“Well… all right.” Having someone to give her tips to please her husband was not what Alisha had in mind when she made her first friend outside of Fortuna. But she had to admit it was nice to have someone to talk about such things without any judgment. And she didn’t mind having someone to encourage her to push her boundaries, nerve-wracking as it may be.

* * *

Dante sat on the sofa in his brother’s home as he carefully held his nephew in one arm, while the other held in place a bottle full of milk, which Augustine eagerly drank up. When Dante offered to babysit on his brother’s anniversary, Vergil insisted that he instruct his twin on how to care for Augustine before the day arrived. And if he said so himself, Dante wasn’t doing half bad a job, even with Vergil’s constant nagging. Diapers were a little gross, but it was a breeze, and keeping the kid pleased while he was awake was a no brainer. Now it was feeding time, and that was going off without a hitch so far.

“Careful,” Vergil sternly said. “You don’t want to make him choke.”

“Vergil, don’t make him nervous,” Alisha said.

“It’s fine,” Dante said. As soon as Augustine finished the bottle, his uncle placed it on the coffee table. “See? Drank every last drop.” He gently laid the baby against his shoulder, and gently patted his back. “Now all we have to do is make sure all that air’s out and-“

Just then, he heard a high-pitched spitting noise. He slowly pulled Augustine off his shoulder and looked at where his nephew was just laying; right on his red leather coat was a splotch of white, the spit up milk slowly dripping downwards.

“Let me take care of that,” Alisha quickly said before she took her son in her arms.

“It’s okay,” Dante replied as he pulled off his coat, trying to hide his disgust. “I’ll just wipe it off in the kitchen.” He quickly made his way to the kitchen counter and grabbed some paper towels before wiping his coat clean. So there was a little bump it the road, but it’s nothing that he couldn’t handle. “Pretty good, huh?” he said as he made his way back to Vergil and Alisha.

“You were adequate,” Vergil said.

“You did very well,” Alisha said with a smile. “Babies are difficult, but you did just fine. Thank you again, for offering to watch him.”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” Dante said. “It’s the least I could do for my favorite brother.” Vergil gave a less than amused grunt, but his brother didn’t let it bother him; his twin may never stop being a hard ass, but he was still family, and he wasn’t going to let him go that easily.


	12. Time Together

“Vergil, are you ready to go?” Alisha asked. Her husband was currently sitting at the kitchen table, writing out instructions for his brother. Today, Vergil and his wife were off to celebrate their one year anniversary, and Dante enthusiastically offered to babysit Augustine for the day.

“Almost,” he replied as he finished writing the last line. As he put the pen down, Alisha reached to the table and flipped through the papers. Written on them were lines upon lines of meticulous instructions in black ink, dictating what Dante should do in just about every circumstance that may arise.

“Vergil, this is ten pages,” she said.

“I know.”

Alisha chuckled as she placed her son in the pram.

“Vergil, our son’s in good hands; he’s always so careful when handling him, and you saw how well he took care of him the other day. Let’s just enjoy the day together.”

When the two arrived at Dante’s shop, Vergil placed his instructions on the desk, to which Dante gave a surprised look when he saw long they were, while Alisha set the various supplies she brought on the couch. Dante had even decided to take the day off so that he could prioritize all of his time for his nephew. Despite his lingering apprehension, Vergil did have appreciation for his brother going to such lengths to take care of Augustine.

“We’ll come by at around noon tomorrow to pick him up,” she said as she handed Augustine to Dante.

“Sounds good,” he replied. “Have fun, you two.” Alisha gave her son a kiss goodbye on the crown of his head before joining her husband. Dante gave a wink to his brother when Alisha wasn’t looking, which prompted a scowl from Vergil as he and his wife left the shop.

The first place he brought her to was the local park to admire the scenery. The weather was cool, and there were several other people enjoying the day under the warm sunlight. Trees that were covered with leaves in vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges were dotted along their path, with a few leaves every so often being tossed in the breeze. It was a last minute idea, but Alisha seemed to enjoy seeing someplace new.

After spending some time walking, they took a break at a wooden bench under a tree. A few feet away from them, a flock of birds were busy pecking away at the ground.

“It’s nice here,” Alisha said. “We should take Augustine with us next time.”

Through the branches of the tree they were seated under, a few rays of light were able to shine through. Vergil was happy to see that she was now comfortable with no longer wearing her white cowl over her head when they were out; her long, silky hair looked nothing short of beautiful when it was illuminated beneath the sunlight. A part of him felt foolish for believing that she had a limit to her beauty, for he was always finding moments that surpassed his previous perceptions, often in unexpected ways. Even seeing her holding their child, softly singing as she looked at her son in pure adoration, made her all the more beautiful to her husband.

“What was your father like?” She asked. “Did his presence feel… different, from others?”

“I… can’t really say,” Vergil replied. “I suppose it was something I never thought to notice.”

“Oh… well, did he pass on any wisdom to you and your brother?”

“Well… I do recall a time when my brother and I had a rather vocal disagreement, something that quite displeased our mother; our father told us that he learned from personal experience not to try her temper.”

“Oh… I see…” He noticed that the excited glimmer in in her eyes had noticeably dulled.

“You seem disappointed.”

“I’m not,” she quickly replied. “It’s just… I was always told that being in the presence of Sparda’s divinity filled the virtuous with a sense of peace and contentment, and that his words of wisdom served as the foundation for our way of life… it’s just unexpected to hear that he was so… normal.” He gave a small smile at her remark.

“I suppose you’ll have a lot yet to learn.” She smiled in return to him as she grasped his hand, learning her head against his shoulder. “I do hope Augustine is doing well…”

“I’m sure he is; Dante is well prepared, and knows how to take care of him. He probably has everything under control.”

* * *

Dante lost track of how long Augustine had been crying.

For a while, he was peaceful, mostly sleeping while occasionally waking up to eat, get a diaper change, and to be amused by his uncle’s antics. Then suddenly, he woke up and started crying. And didn’t stop.

Dante had done everything he could think of and was suggested in his brother’s instructions: The kid wasn’t hungry, he had a clean diaper, and he refused a pacifier multiple times. Dante continuously walked around his office as he rocked his nephew in his arms, hushing him, softly speaking to him, even trying to sing to him in his less than fantastic singing voice… but nothing seemed to soothe him. He could only assume that he was missing his parents, since it was the first time he spent so long without them, but Dante wasn’t about to call up his brother and bother them. Besides that, they were probably still out and about.

“Is he still crying?” Lady asked as she entered the shop.

“What do you think?” Dante asked. Then he looked back down at his nephew. “Listen, Augustine, I know you miss your mom and dad, but I promise you’re going to see them tomorrow. So please, just calm down and give me a bit of peace.” Augustine, of course, didn’t understand a word he said, and continued crying, prompting a tired sigh from his uncle.

“Let me try for a bit,” Lady said as she gently took him from Dante’s arms.

“Thanks…” He plopped into his chair at his desk as she resumed walking around him. “Man… I have no idea how they do it every day. He’s a good kid, but he needs someone to do everything for him.”

“Well, that’s how babies are.”

“I know, but still… And sure, there’s two of them, but Alisha’s all by herself in the house for a long time on her days off too. What really gets me is how Verge of all people has the patience to care of him, even when the kid’s crying this much. It wouldn’t have been too long ago when he didn’t give a damn about this kind of stuff. And then what’s the first thing I see from him after a year? He’s married before I am and doing everything he can for his son.”

“He changed a lot, didn’t he?”

“That’s putting it lightly…” It was hard to imagine Augustine walking and talking, let alone grow into an adult, but he knew that it would happen before he knew it. Hell, Dante’s own childhood seemed like a whole different era, and yet he could still clearly recall a time when his mother never failed to comfort him and his brother, when the thought of anything tearing apart their family was nothing more than a bad dream… But he couldn’t dwell on that now, not when the family he still had left needed him.

“I think he wants you now,” Lady said. “Listen.” Augustine continued to cry until she brought him right next to his uncle, which was when he finally became quiet.

“Huh,” Dante said as he stood from his seat. Then he carefully took his nephew from her arms and gently cradled him. Lo and behold, Augustine remained peaceful, and even began to fall asleep. “Well, I don’t know what that was all about, but I’m glad it turned out okay.” Lady smiled as she looked at the two of them.

“You know, I was going to say you owe me for this. But since you two look so cute, I’ll let it slide just this once.”

“Gee, thanks…” Then he looked down at his sleeping nephew. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought Augustine had been asleep for hours with how peaceful he looked. "I know you're always on my side, though, right?" 

* * *

After an afternoon of sightseeing, Vergil took Alisha to a rather fancy restaurant. The round tables were covered in pristine white tablecloths, and decorated with clear glass vases with a bouquet of vibrant red roses. The dining area was illuminated with crystal chandeliers, and gentle music was playing to create a calming and intimate atmosphere.

After they were seated, she worried whether or not such a place would be too expensive, but Vergil insisted that she not worry about it. Luckily, the prices looked to be reasonable, despite how ornate everything was. Even the food looked as though it was meant to be served to royalty, and tasted just as delicious; though she always thought her food was well made, the pork and vegetables exceeded anything she cooked.

“How is everything?” Vergil asked.

“Very good,” Alisha said. “Today was wonderful. Thank you.” From where she was sitting, she thought she could see a slight blush to his cheeks.

“Well,” he said, “the day’s not over yet.” He reached into his coat, pulled out a small black box, and placed it in front of her. “Here.”

She loosened the satin ribbon before opening the box and released a small gasp at what was inside: an oval silver locket engraved with lilies.

“Vergil… I… this is… thank you…” She smiled as she removed the locket from the box and clasped the delicate chain around her neck, letting the pendant dangle against chest. “How does it look?”

“Beautiful.” She lightly giggled as she held the locket between her fingers.

“Oh, that’s right; I don’t want to forget what I have for you.” She opened her satchel and removed a white box before handing it to him. “I hope you like this.” She watched as he opened the box and examined the black pocket watch in his hand. “My mother gave my father one for their first anniversary. I thought it would be useful to you as well.” She was happy to see the smile on his face as he placed the watch in his breast pocket.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll carry this always.” Then he took her hand in his and gently kissed the back of it.

It was dark by the time they returned home, and it was strange to be in the house without her son. But she didn’t let it bother her, for she knew he was in good hands. When they reached the bedroom, his lips were quickly on hers, both eager to close the night.

“Wait,” she said as she pulled away. “There’s still one more thing I wanted to give you.” She stepped away from him before beginning by removing her boots and stockings. Then she removed the ties at her neck and waist before unbuttoning her front, his eyes never straying from her body. Finally, preparing herself with a deep breath, she let her dress fall to the ground around her feet.

A soft blue negligee made of delicate chiffon and lace was her final surprise for him. The top half revealed much of her breasts, nearly exposing her nipples, and the loose bottom half barely covered the pair of underwear that contained far less fabric that she normally liked. Even remembering that this was what she was wearing beneath her modest dress made her a bit embarrassed. Her eyes remained downcast as she felt heat rise to her cheeks, and her legs were beginning to feel unstable.

“Lady suggested that I buy this,” she said. “She said that you would find it… appealing.” Her heart suddenly started throbbing when she heard a low growl from her husband. Before she knew it, he was guiding her to the bed.

“You chose well,” he said. “Perhaps you’ll have to wear this more often.” She moaned as his mouth captured hers, his hand running along her leg and slipping beneath the soft chiffon. Then his lips wandered to her neck and began to suck at her flesh, his teeth gently sinking into her. Even though she knew she could be as loud as she wanted tonight, she still found herself limiting her noise out of habit. Despite that, she could not withhold her sharp moan as he pressed his finger against her clitoris. Already she could feel her underwear becoming soaked.

He removed himself from her neck so that he could slide the lacy straps from her shoulders and off her arms. He took one last moment to look at her wearing the sensual lingerie before pulling it off her body and letting it flutter to the ground. She swallowed hard as she prepared herself for what she wanted to ask next.

“Um… Vergil,” she said.

“Yes?”

“I… I was thinking…” The heat that had now spread to her entire body did nothing to calm her nerves. “I was thinking… perhaps you could… restrain me…” She slowly reached her hand upwards and grasped his black cravat. “…with this.”

She thought she would to die right then and there with embarrassment; much to Alisha’s chagrin, Lady had taken notice of the rather saucy novel she was reading during her free time at work. It was about a reclusive king who became enamored with a servant girl, to which he indulged her in rather… unorthodox pleasure. She prayed that Vergil would never see it, but Lady suggested to her that she request that he give her the same treatment if she enjoyed reading about it so much. She adamantly refused at first, but with a bit more pushing, she found herself liking the idea of her husband completely overtaking her more and more. She knew he would never judge her, but it didn’t make voicing her desires to him any less embarrassing.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don’t want to hurt you.” Of course he would worry about her safety first.

“Yes. I know you’ll be careful.” As soon as she said such, she noticed the dark gleam in his eye.

He removed his cravat before tying it securely around her wrists, making sure it was tight, but not uncomfortable. Already she felt a rush of excitement running through her veins. Then he began placing kisses across her body that felt light as air, beginning with one at her lips, then down her neck, the valley of her breasts, her stomach…

Then he pulled the underwear down her legs, which were now complete wet with her fluids, leaving her completely naked with no way to hide herself...

He made her yelp in surprise when he suddenly grabbed her hips, pulled her upwards, and slung her legs over his shoulders, leaving her entrance in his complete sight as she was trapped in an almost upside down position. Then he began by licking at her folds, making her cry out as he tightly held her soft thighs in place. She wanted to grip her fingers into the sheets, but it was impossible with how her wrists her restrained. So she resorted to squirming her upper half on the mattress while his tongue licked away at her intimate regions.

A loud moan escaped her lips when she felt his tongue delve inside her. Instinctively, she tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he held her firmly in place as she lavished her passage with his mouth. From where she lay, she could see his piercing gaze staring down at her, not once stopping his stimulations. Against her rear, she could feel his erection that was straining against his pants.

Just as she felt a particularly strong jolt of pleasure, he stopped, making her whimper in disappointment.

“Do you wish for me to continue?” he asked.

“Y-Yes,” she replied, but all he did was continue to stare down at her. Was he trying to mock her?

“I want you to beg for it.” Hearing his voice say those words made pleasure rush straight to her loins.

“P-Please, Vergil. Please, I need you to continue, please I can’t handle waiting. Please, my love, don’t leave me like this… Please, I-“

Her words were cut off with a scream of rapture when he roughly pushed his tongue inside of her, hitting a sensitive spot. The sensation in her stomach became tighter with each passing second, and her body was becoming almost unbearably hot. Her skin was slightly stinging from where his claws dug into her thighs, but it only intensified the burning pleasure that was quickly building.

She came in his mouth with a sharp cry, her whole body becoming tense as pleasure completely overcame her. She had become dizzy and lightheaded from being held in such a position, but it hardly mattered as her form shuddered in bliss.

When she was able to catch her breath, he placed her legs back on the bed before completely undressing himself. When he returned on top of her, she watched as his eyes gazed over every region of her naked body. How vulnerable she felt, completely unclothed before him with no way to hide herself… and yet, not once did she feel that she was in any danger.

He finally bent down to kiss her before he pushed his length inside of her, making her gasp as he buried himself to the hilt. Slowly he began to thrust, making her moan as the length slid past her sensitive regions. Her entire body trembled as her stomach began to tighten once more.

Then she felt him grab her hips before ramming into her, making her yelp as her body shifted against the mattress. Her hair lay unkempt across the pillow and the blush in her cheeks spread to her entire face as he pounded into her without mercy. She could feel a layer of sweat forming against his forehead when he pressed it against hers, and his breath felt hot against her skin.

Suddenly, he reached his arms beneath her, pulled her to his chest, and sat upright against the edge of the bed. Her restrained hands lay against his chest as he gasped her waist and maneuvered her up and down his cock. Her eyes began to well with tears as the way his length filled her made her drown in ecstasy. She could feel her passage clenching around him, and the pleasure was becoming unbearable.

She practically sobbed when she climaxed in his lap, and he held her in place when he penetrated her completely. Every nerve felt as though it were set on fire, and his grip remained tight as his hot seed shot inside of her, his groan sending a chill down her spine. His semen felt thick as it filled her, and she could already feel some drip down her leg.

She could feel his rapid heartbeat gradually slow down when she rested her head against his chest. With a satisfied sigh, he withdrew from her and placed her back in his lap, making his seed immediately rush out of her. With one hand, he untied the restraint around her wrists while his chin rested atop of her head. Then he held her exhausted form in his embrace, letting his warmth surround and comfort her. She smiled when she felt his hand stroke her hair, and felt a gentle kiss at the crown of her head.

“Happy Anniversary.”


	13. Separation and Reunion

Recently, both Dante and Vergil’s bookshelves had become quite a bit more crowded; Lady had delivered her father’s collection of books to the twins, hoping that they might find something of use. If nothing else, such information was better off in their hands, instead of someone like Arkham.

Vergil in particular took an interest, hoping to find something that would assist in improving his wife’s health. Much of the information in the books were related to rituals that would grant a person demonic power and strength, often at the cost of human lives. But there were a few instructions that did not require such sacrifices, and while their effects were rather marginal, if they could improve Alisha’s well-being in any way, they were worth looking into. Many of them were remedies whose ingredients were often dropped by the various demons he slayed.

Unfortunately, each one of them failed to improve her vitality in any way; at best, they had no effect, and at worst they made her vomit the contents immediately after ingesting them. Perhaps these remedies were only meant for demons, or at least those with demonic powers, since Arkham may have found a use for them. Vergil couldn’t give up now, not when he very well may have the cure to his wife’s condition within his grasp.

This time, however, he found a ritual that would grant someone immunity from illness. He had the ten gold orbs required for the ritual, and he was able to read and understand the incantation. So one afternoon on his day off, he pushed the living room furniture against the walls so that he had enough space to draw a large magic circle on the hardwood floor with his blood. Then, he evenly arranged the gold orbs around the outline of the circle.

“Vergil, are you sure this will be all right?” Alisha asked.

“It will,” he reassured her. “Once this ritual is completed, you’ll never have to worry about illness ever again.” She didn’t look very convinced, but she still allowed him to help ease her back onto the floor in the middle of the circle. “Just relax.”

When he began reciting the incantation, the orbs levitated in place and began to glow. Slowly, he continued reading the words on the page, making sure to perfectly enunciate every syllable.

“Vergil?” Alisha said. “I… I don’t feel very well…” She tried to sit upright, but now that the ritual had started, she was trapped lying on the ground. So he continued reciting the spell, making the orbs glow even brighter. “Vergil, I think you should stop now…”

But without missing a beat, he continued reading, for interrupting a ritual once it began would disrupt the spell and render the orbs useless, something he informed her of before they began. Usually, he avoided causing her discomfort, but temporary pain was a small price to pay if it would grant her immunity from sickness. 

“Vergil, I don’t know how much more I can take,” Alisha said with a strained voice. There was a small pang of guilt within him that he ignored by focusing only on the incantation. He could feel the energy radiating from where the orbs levitated, which meant that things were working as intended. As each second passed, the energy grew stronger as the gold orbs’ energy was being utilized to their fullest.

“Vergil, please, I can’t take any more of this!” she cried as she thrashed about on the ground. A few more seconds, just a few more he needed until the ritual was complete; then it would be over, and she would be stronger for it.

After reciting the last words of the incantation, an enormous burst of energy rippled throughout the cottage, making Alisha scream in pain as her body was overwhelmed. The orbs vibrated from where they hovered, their power being pushed past their limit as they glowed as bright as stars…

Then they unceremoniously fell to the ground with a thud, their glow fading until they were completely dull, leaving Alisha sobbing on the ground as she was surrounded by the now useless gold orbs.

Where did he fail? The orbs were supposed to shatter and give their energy to her. Did he recite the incantation incorrectly? No, he was certain he read it perfectly. Perhaps she was simply too weak to withstand the orbs’ power. But he wouldn’t give up, not until she was stronger.

He bent down in front of her, and reached out to take her hand and help her to her feet. But what she did before he could do so made him feel as though his soul fell to pieces.

She recoiled from him.

He hadn’t even touched her when she swiftly pulled her hand away before she curled her knees to her chin, crying as she tried to comfort herself. It was then that he fully realized what he had done to his beloved wife: He had harmed her.

More times than he could count did he promise to protect her, to keep her safe from anything and anyone that would hurt her. And yet just now, he was the one that harmed her. Not only that, but she refused to accept his touch. So many times did she welcome his embrace, knowing that she would find comfort and protection in his touch, something that he took advantage of far too many times. But now she feared him, afraid that he intended to cause her more pain; for the first time did she associate his touch with pain. And he had no one to blame but himself for his betrayal.

He finally noticed the sound of his son crying upstairs; Alisha was still quietly weeping on the ground. So without a word, he made his way to Augustine’s room, and gently soothed him in his arms. Just yesterday, his wife excitedly pointed out to him how much their child had grown since they moved here, smiling as she held Augustine in her lap. And now she wanted nothing to do with her husband, not after the pain he caused her.

After his son fell asleep, Vergil placed him in the bassinet before returning downstairs. Alisha was no longer lying on the ground, but instead sitting on the sofa that was still against the wall. Around her body was the gray and white blanket he brought down from upstairs, to help keep her warm during the upcoming winter. She remained silent, a grim expression on her face, and her eyes now lacking their vibrant sparkle. She didn’t even acknowledge his presence as her eyes stared at the ground, as though too repulsed to even look at him.

A part of him wanted to say something, to apologize for the harm he caused, and promise her it would never happen again. But what could he possibly say that would console her? She had no reason to believe that he would never harm her again, and why would she? He broke his promise to her, and he had no right to expect her to forgive him. In only a few moments, he had lost what he cherished most because of his selfishness.

He stepped out the door, leaving her behind.

* * *

Vergil’s arrived at his brother’s office in the early evening. Dante was certainly surprised to see him there on his day off, but when he saw his sober expression, he knew that something was wrong. He welcomed him inside and asked if he needed a drink, to which Vergil refused.

“Lover’s spat?” Dante asked as he sat at his desk.

“Not quite,” Vergil replied. “I… I harmed her.”

“Care to explain?”

“I tried to perform a ritual I found that was supposed to protect her from illness. She was in agony, but I continued until it was completed. The ritual was a failure, and all of the pain I caused her was for nothing… ”

Dante sighed and shook his head. He knew that his brother was motivated and stubborn as hell, but he never thought he would go so far as to intentionally hurt his wife, even if he did think it was for the best. How ironic that for how overprotective he was, the pain he caused her must have hurt the most. 

“Jeez, Verge… did you at least apologize?”

“She won’t even look at me; what am I supposed to say? I violated her trust, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t want anything to do with me.” He leaned forward, letting his head dangle as he stared at the ground.

“Well… you can stay in the extra room I have for now, since Lady’s not using it anymore. But you should probably talk things over with Alisha sooner rather than later.”

Dante gave Vergil a few assignments so that he could blow off some steam, though by the end of the day he still looked absolutely depressed, and barely spoke a word. When Lady arrived the next morning and asked what was wrong, Vergil explained what had occurred the previous day.

“Vergil…” Lady said. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know; I haven’t spoken to her since yesterday,” he replied. For a moment, Dante wondered if Lady was regretting showing him those books, and how upset she was with Vergil. After all, her and Alisha had grown quite close. A second later, he heard the phone ringing.

“Devil May Cry,” Dante said when he picked it up.

“Dante?” Alisha’s voice said. “Um… hello…”

“Oh… hey. Is everything all right?”

“Yes, thank you. I… I just wanted to know if Vergil was there.”

“Oh, yeah, he’s here…” Dante looked over his shoulder and saw that his brother was still dejectedly sitting on the couch. “Do you wanna talk to him?”

“No. Well, yes; but I wanted to speak to him in person, and I was hoping that you could convince him to come home.”

“Well, I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try.”

“Thank you.” Dante hung up the phone and approached Vergil.

“That was Alisha; she wants you to come home.” Vergil looked surprised for a moment, but quickly returned to his sad state.

“I… don’t know if that’s for the best.”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re about to abandon your wife and kid because of one incident.”

“Of course not, don’t be foolish.”

“Then what’s keeping you here?”

Vergil sighed as he stood to his feet.

“I don’t know what to say to her.”

“Well… you could start with ‘I’m sorry’”. Vergil gave his brother an unfriendly glare, apparently not appreciating that Dante would take him for a fool. “Okay, other than that… just tell her how you feel; she told me she wanted to talk to you, so you’ve got no reason to keep avoiding her.” Vergil remained quiet for a moment, considering what he should do.

“All right. I’ll probably be back tomorrow.” With that, he left the shop, leaving Dante and Lady behind.

“I’m sure everything will be okay,” Lady said.

“Yeah, me too,” Dante added. “And if it doesn’t, then at least that spare room’s not going anywhere.” Lady responded by giving him a smack in the arm. “What? I was just joking.”

* * *

Alisha sat on the sofa, playing with Augustine as he lay along her lap. The furniture had long since been arranged back into their proper places, and she also wiped the floor clean and collected the orbs. For a while, she felt a whirlwind of emotions after the failed ritual: anger, sadness, confusion… but eventually all she could think of was how much she missed her husband. Which was why when she heard a knock on the door, she practically ran over to open it.

“Vergil,” she said. He didn’t say a word as he stood awkwardly behind the door frame, as though unsure if he should enter his own home. “Here, come inside.” She took his hand and led him to the sofa. “I missed you… both of us did.” As though on cue, Augustine began softly cooing. “I think he’s trying to speak now,” she said with a smile. “Last night I heard him say-“

“Alisha,” Vergil interrupted. “I… I’m sorry.”

“Yes… I know…” Before she could say anything else, she felt him grab her hand.

“I mean it; I told you that I would never let any harm come to you, and I broke that promise. The only thing I wanted to do was help you, and yet…” She reached her hand upwards to gently caress his cheek.

“Vergil… I know you mean well, and I love you for it. But I don’t want you to be obsessed with my condition; I know you’re worried about my health. I am too. But both of us know to be careful, and I’ve been doing well since we’ve moved here. For now, I just want us to enjoy our time together, and what will happen, will happen. So let’s put this behind us move forward.” Then she leaned forward and gently kissed him on the lips. Across them she could see a faint hint of a smile.

“Alisha…” he said, “thank you. And I promise not to try anything that could harm you again.” She smiled once more before placing Augustine in his lap. Though there may be many more difficulties in the coming years, she knew that they would endure.


	14. Family Bonding

The weather was starting to become much colder as autumn began giving way to winter; the morning frost was visible on windows, the air had a chill to it, and there was even the occasional snow fall. 

During this time, Vergil knew that Alisha's health would be particularly vulnerable, so he made sure she stayed warm within the house. Unfortunately, Dante couldn't afford to turn the heat up in his office too much, so she had to wear her thick coat while inside. 

But the impending winter also brought new milestones for their little family; Augustine had just reached the six month mark, and was becoming more active. He often grabbed whatever his little hands could touch, from his mother's hair, to his father's cravat. He still very much enjoyed being held by his parents, but he made quite the fuss whenever he wanted down. He had also begun teething, something that Alisha told her husband she could feel when she nursed her son. 

One afternoon, she set a large blanket down on the living room floor so that Augustine could comfortably crawl around while they supervised as they sat on the ground.

"Augustine, come here, my darling," Alisha called with outstretched arms. Augustine looked over at his mother curiously before crawling his way over to her. With a cheerful smile, she picked him up and hugged him close. 

"M... Ma..." Augustine said.

"Yes?" Alisha said. "Are you trying to say 'Mama'?"

"Ma... Ma..." 

That's right! I'm Mama." She then placed a kiss on her son's head. "And look, this is Papa." Just then, there was a knock at the door. "That must be Dante. I'll get it." She stood from the floor, leaving Augustine with Vergil. 

"Mama?" Agustine said as he looked up at his father.

"N-No," Vergil said. "I'm your father."

"Fa..." 

Vergil could not help but find his son's attempts at speaking to be quite endearing. He clearly couldn't quite understand the words he was trying to say, but it was obvious he wanted to verbally communicate with others. 

"Hey, Augustine!" Dante said as he approached them. "How've you been?"

"Mama..." Augustine replied, which prompted a chuckle from his uncle. Dante had been making visits to his brother's house more often as of late. He said it was to keep an eye on his older brother, but Alisha suspected that living by himself got a bit lonely sometimes, even though he often saw his family while on the job. 

Truth be told, Vergil didn't mind, at least not too much; while some of Dante's antics were a bit troublesome, having an amicable relationship with him was pleasant. Not that he would ever say such a thing out loud, but he enjoyed having his brother as part of his family, something he once thought was a lost cause.

"He's become a lot more talkative," Alisha said. "And a lot more active. I can hardly keep up with him sometimes. I can only imagine what it'll be like when he starts walking." 

"Well, I'm sure if you can handle my brother, you can handle anything," Dante replied as he tried to get his nephew to crawl over to him. Alisha giggled before heading upstairs, saying she wanted to bring down the plush rabbit that was in Augustine's crib. "So," Dante said. "Think you'd want another one?"

"Alisha might," Vergil replied. " But we both know that's probably not ideal..." He was quiet for a moment as he watched his son apporach him. "She almost died in childbirth... Her pregnancy was also rather stressful. She says she doesn't regret anything that happened, but I wouldn't want to put her through such an ordeal again."

"Oh..."

When Alisha returned downstairs, she handed Dante the brown plush rabbit, hoping that it would encourage Augustine to crawl over to his uncle. It worked, but then he decided to bite Dante on his finger. 

"Augustine!" Alisha said as she pulled her son and the toy away. "I'm sorry, Dante, he's been teething and has taken to biting lately."

"It's fine," Dante replied. "I've been through a lot worse." Vergil said nothing, but was trying his damnedest not to smirk in bemusement.

At lunchtime, Vergil tried to spoon feed his son while Alisha took a bit of a breather. Unfortunately, Augustine simply stared at his father without opening his mouth, as though unaware that there was food waiting for him.

"Come now, Augustine," Vergil said. "Don't you want to please your mother?" Augustine, however, continued staring in defiance. 

"Do you need help?" Alisha asked.

"It's fine," he replied.

"Apples and peas," Dante said as he observed the small jar. "No wonder he doesn't want to eat it, this sounds disgusting."

"He usually isn't this troublesome..."

"Well, at least we know where his stubbornness comes from." Vergil would have thrown his twin a scowl, if it weren't for Augustine suddenly opening his mouth, allowing his father to finally give him some food.

Later that night, after Dante returned home, Augustine slept peacefully on his back as he lay in his crib. 

"He's darling, isn't he?" Alisha said as she stroked his hair. "I'm so happy he's surrounded by people who love him... and no one to scorn him because of who his mother is..."

Vergil held his wife close and placed a kiss at the crown of her head. Even after everything that happened since moving here, she still had lingering anxieties from her previous life. He could not blame her for such a thing, of course; he would be lying if he said he still wasn't fearful of what may come. Still, he hoped that in time her past experiences would no longer haunt her.

* * *

"Newo... Newo..." 

That was the word Augustine kept repeating throughout the morning.

"Why does he keep saying that?" Vergil asked.

"Oh, the other day I was reading him a story about a knight named Nero," Alisha said. "He seemed to really like the name. Isn't that right, my little Nero?" With a smile she bent down and kissed his head from where he was sitting in his chair before preparing to take him with her to work.

While at work, Augustine continued to say "Newo", much to the amusement of Dante. 

"'Nero,'" huh?" he said. "Is that your new favorite word?"

"Newo!" Augustine said.

That's right," Alisha said as she cuddled him close. "He's my little Nero." 

As the days went by, Alisha had grown quite accustomed to calling Augustine her "little Nero", as he always responded quite well to it. Eventually, she began shortening it to simply "Nero", which was also soon picked up by Dante. It took some time for Vergil to pick up on it, as it was quite different from his son's given name, but he eventually gave in when he saw how much Nero had taken a liking to the word.

"You shouldn't worry too much about it," Alisha said."He's far from the first to have a nickname that's very different from his real one. Besides, I think it suits him well." How funny to say such a thing, when her tiny son was nicknamed after a mighty warrior of righteousness. By she supposed that even the greastest of heros were once helpless babes. 

It was why she was suprised to hear that her husband intended to teach their son to use a sword as soon as he was old enough, just as him and his brother were taught. Even though she knew that even Holy Knights were trained from a young age, it wad hard to imagine her little Nero in such dangerous situations. Vergil had even said he wished for his son to inherit Yamato one day. She knew that she couldn't always protect him from harm, but she still preferred not to think of such a thing. She supposed it was simply her maternal instinct speaking...

One day, Vergil had placed Yamato on the ground before him as he and his wife let their son examine the sword. Nero particularly took an interest in the yellow ribbon that was tied around the scabbard.

He's already growing accustomed to it," Vergil said.

"Not too soon, I hope," Alisha added.

"It's still later than when my brother and I were introduced to our inherited baldes; our father had us touch them before we were a full day old, much to our mother's chagrin."

Alisha gave a surprised chuckle as Nero continued to play with the ribbon. It seemed the great Sparda was also eager for his children to learn the ways of the blade. Still, she placed her trust in her husband, and had no doubt that their son would grow into someone of greatness, no matter what that may be. But as for now, she would enjoy indulging her little Nero in all the love and affection she could possibly give him.


	15. Family Shenanigans

One morning, Alisha had awkened with a rather intense headache. Luckily, she had no other symptoms, but Vergil still insisted that she rest until she felt better. So he took care of Nero's needs for the day before allowing him to crawl about on the floor. 

How amusing, Vergil thought, that watching his son curiously explore his surroundings gave him a sense of endearment. So quickly Nero had grown, and yet it was still hard to believe that he would grow even more in the coming years. Alisha adored how her son looked like his father, but Vergil took more pleasure in how Nero's little smiles reminded him of hers. He wondered if he would inherit her compassionte disposition as well...

Suddenly, the phone began ringing, to which Vergil stood up to answer it. Much to his annoyance, it was a telemarketer trying to sell him a scam.

"Not interested," he curtly said before he placed the phone back on the wall. Then he turned around to return to Nero...

Who was gone.

"Nero?" he called as his heart raced.

"Newo," a little voice echoed. It came from under the sofa, and Vergil quickly peeked under it. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw his son sitting contently on the floor, staring curiously at his father.

"All right, Nero, time to come out," Vergil said as he gestured with his hand. Nero, however, didn't move an inch. "Nero, come to your father." His son still showed no interest in leaving his little space beneath the sofa. Thinking quickly, Vergil grabbed the plush rabbit that was set on the blanket before dangling it in Nero's line of sight. "Here; do you want this?" Evidently, the answer was no, as Nero continued sitting on the hardwood floor, content to stay there for who knows how long.

Vergil sighed as the rabbit dropped from his grasp. He didn't want to disturb Alisha, so asking her for help was out of the question. He also didn't want to move the sofa to try to grab him, lest he accidently injure Nero. Surely he had to crawl out sooner or later, but leaving him beneath the sofa couldn't be good for him either... Vergil couldn't have taken his eyes off his son any longer than a minute, and yet, it was more than enough time for his son to get into someplace he shouldn't. He supposed he had no one but himself to blame for this prediciment...

Luckily, Dante made one of his frequent visits ten minutes later, who was quickly informed of the current situation. 

"Seriously?" he remarked with an amused grin. "You need _my_ help to get your kid out from under the sofa?" 

"Just see if you can get him to come out," Vergil grumbled. Dante crouched down by his brother's side, so that he could have a clear view of Nero.

"Hey, Nero! You ready to come say 'hi' to your favorite uncle?" Unfortunately, not even Dante's enthusiasm could sway his nephew. "Huh... I guess not..." Then he reached his arm beneath the sofa and towards him, and tried to grab at him. Nero, however, quickly crawled away from him before he could. "Verge, get on the other side and see if you can get him from there." Vergil complied to his brother's suggestion and knelt on the ground on the side of the sofa opposite of Dante. Reaching his arm beneath it, he could just barely feel the soft cotton of his son's clothing. Unfortunately, even with the twin's long reach, Nero was just out of reach for the both of them.

"Damn it," Vergil said, "this shouldn't be this difficult..."

"Is everything all right?"Alisha's voice suddenly called. Vergil turned his head and saw his wife standing at the bottom of the stairs, wearing a white dressing gown over her night dress.

"Alisha," he said as he and his brother stood to their feet. "I thought you were resting."

"I was, but I'm feeling a bit better now, and I was wondering what all the fuss was down here..."

"Well... It's nothing that-" Suddenly, his son gave an excited cry of "Newo!", which quickly caught her attention. She walked around her husband before crouching in front of the sofa. 

"Nero, darling, come here," she said. 

"Mama..." he murmured before crawling out from under the sofa and into his mother's arms. With a soft smile, she picked him up and held him close to her chest. All of that effort, and all they needed in the end was his mother...

"Well then," Dante said. "If I had known it was that easy..." Alisha giggled before giving her son a kiss on the head. Vergil, however, felt rather guilty that his wife had to come downstairs to retrieve their son after he said she should rest. It must have been obvious how he was feeling, since he felt her gently touch his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Vergil. And thank you for watching him while I got a bit more rest in. Now then, why don't you hold onto him for me while I get changed?" She placed a kiss on her husband's cheek before hand Nero to him and heading back upstairs. 

"Look at that," Dante said. "Not even a year old, and already a mama's boy." Vergil supposed it wasn't surprising that his son had such an attachment to Alisha; after all, the twins still held their own love for their mother to this day. For a long time, Vergil even thought that she would be the last person he would ever love, and that there was no room for anyone else... Of course, Alisha had somehow found a place in his heart, with little Nero quickly joining her...

For once, he was glad to say he was wrong. 


	16. Welcome Home

For the past few days, Dante and Vergil were on an assignment on the other side of the city, which meant Lady and Alisha were in charge of running the shop while they were gone. Lady had become quite taken with Nero's growing activeness, and enjoyed playing with him while his mother worked. Alisha was also happy that Lady was willing to spend some time with her at her home after work, since the cottage felt quite lonely without Vergil around. It had been a long time since she felt she could confide in another woman, and Lady's relaxed attitude when talking with her put her at ease.

She smiled as she took a moment to examine the small alcove in the wall near the stairs. On the little shelf was the picture of herself sitting on her father's lap when she was six years old, a smile on both of their faces. Though her life had taken many unexpected turns, she eventually found herself to be very happy, and she hoped her papa was smiling down on her and his grandchild.

"I hope I'm doing well, Papa," she said as she held her son close to her. "After all, I learned from the best."

Tonight, she was anxiously awaiting for her husband to return home; yesterday, he called her and said that he would be coming back home today this evening. So when she heard a knock at the door as she was finishing up with dinner, she quickly went to open it.

"Vergil!" she said as she wrapped him into her arms. "Welcome home." When she separated from him, he placed a small kiss at her lips. 

"How was everything while I was gone?" he asked as he stepped inside.

"Fine; dinner's almost ready, so I'll tell you more after I've set everything up." Just then, Nero gave a little coo at the sight of his father from where he was sitting in his pen in the living room. "He missed you too," she added as she walked over to her son. "Why don't you play with him for a bit?" 

She watched as her husband bent down in front of the pen, hesitatant for a moment before gently stroking his son's head, prompting a tiny giggle from the child. Vergil was still so cautious around their son. But when she saw the warmth in his gaze when he was near their little one, she had no doubt in how much love he held for Nero. It made her smile to see her otherwise serious husband become soft and endearing whenever it came to his son.

Throughout dinner, they disccused what had happened during the past few days in each other's absence. There was the scare when the water wouldn't turn on at the office, but otherwise, things went smoothly on her end. Of course, she was also sure that Lady was going to remind Dante about the money he borrowed from her to keep the water on when she saw him. Meanwhile, Vergil's mission with his brother went smoothly, though her husband did say that he came very close to impaling his twin after one sarcastic remark during a stressful situation too many. 

After they were finished eating, Alisha stood up to collect the empty dishes. As she was putting them in the sink, she suddenly felt her back pressed against her husband's chest. Then she felt his hand run up from her thigh to her waist, and felt his warm breath at her neck. She let out a small chuckle as she leaned into him.

"Why don't you take care of Nero for me while I wash the dishes, and I'll meet with you soon?" she said. Her skin tingled where he kissed her on her neck before he retrieved his son and took him upstairs.

After she finished washing the dishes and putting away the leftovers, she made her way up to the bedroom. It looked like Vergil was almost done putting Nero to bed.

As soon as she slipped off her dress and placed it in the closet, her husband's mouth was immediately on hers, making her give a small yelp in surprise as he guided her to the bed. Already she could feel his clothed erection against her groin, and she bucked her hips against him, moaning into his mouth when she felt his bulge rub against her clitoris. Her skin felt warm to the touch, and her entrance was already wet for him when he removed her underwear. Then he removed himself from the bed and undressed, but she stopped him before he returned to her.

"Wait," she said as she crawled on the mattress towards him. Then she reached out her hand to touch his cock, firm and warm in her palm. She felt him place his hand against the back of her head, encouraging her to continue.

She began by gently sucking at the tip, removing the drop of precum with her tongue as she pulles him into her mouth. She could hear him release a low moan as his fingers massaged her scalp. Once the head was adequetely moistened with her saliva, she slowly took more of his length into her mouth, allowing her tongue to slide along him.

"Alisha," she heard him murmur between his panting. Then he hissed through his teeth when the head of his cock touched the back of her throat. His fingers firmly held her in place by her hair as she maneuvered her head along his length, and she gripped onto his thighs for stability. Softly, she moaned as she pleasured him with her mouth, and she could feel his cock twitich as he was getting closer...

With a low moan, he came in her mouth, and she quickly swallowed his thick seed as it rushed into her throat. She had long since become used to the bitter taste, and had no trouble drinking in every drop of his release.

After a few seconds he released her hair, and his cock was still firm when it was withdrawn from her tired mouth. A small drop of his cum lingered on her bottom lip, and she quickly licked it away with her tongue as her eyes met his. 

With a guttural growl, he pushed her back on the bed and quickly penetrated her. She witheld her whimpers as best she could as he thrust into her while his teeth dug into her neck. His pace was frantic and rough, but not once did she tell him to stop this unbearable pleasure. The breath of his groan right next to her ear made her shiver in delight, and her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, coaxing him to go deeper...

Then, in an instant he tranformed to his Devil Trigger form, making her gasp in surprise. But she quickly regained her composure, her fingernails digging into his plates as he filled her to the hilt while he inhaled her intoxicating scent at the crook of her neck. 

" _Mine,_ " he snarled as he pulled himself away to gaze at her face. Even in this form, it was clear he had completely fallen into the abyss of his lust, and she was eager to receive all of it. She felt full, so full with him inside of her heat, but she enjoyed every second of it; she was more than adequetely wet to accept all of him, and she could feel the walls of her passage tighten around his ridged cock each time he hit her most sensitive spot. Her eyes welled up with tears as she became closer to reaching her peak, her arms falling limp around him as the tighteness in her midsection was about to burst...

She moaned behind bitten lips when she came, her entire body trembling as pleasure overwhelmed her senses. Not a second later did she feel his hot semen rush inside of her, filling her, and intensifying her orgasm as her womb became flooded with his seed. Even as the intensity began to fade, he continued to fill her, until at last he was finished.

His cum began to leak out of her as soon as he withdrew, leaving a trail of his seed from her passage. She reached her hand out to stroke his face before giving him a gentle kiss, which prompted him to revert to his human form. Carefully, he adjusted her so that she was laying on her side and held her close, and she relaxed her body against his chest. She smiled as she cuddled close to him, wanting to feel him next to her again after sleeping alone the past few nights. 

How she missed her beloved devil.

"Welcome home, my love."


	17. First Christmas

“Don’t pull at Mama’s hair, darling,” Alisha said as she gently pried a lock of her hair from her son’s tiny fist. She had just taken a break at work and was resting Nero in her lap as she sat on the couch. It was now mid-December, and the weather had changed accordingly: A blanket of snow covered the ground, a sharp chill lingered in the air, and the temperature was so cold that a thin layer of ice covered the surface of the lake at their home. To keep everyone from freezing, particularly Alisha and Nero, Dante was able to buy a small space heater for the office, which Vergil insisted that his wife sit near as much as possible.

It also wasn’t the only addition to the Devil May Cry headquarters; along the wall next to the bar was a small artificial evergreen tree, about hlaf as tall as Alisha was, with brightly colored lights strung through the branches. Apparently, Dante had found it by the side of the road last year, and despite a few crooked branches, was a nice decoration for Christmas.

Christmas was celebrated in Fortuna, where a tree would be decorated, presents would be exchanged among family, and a nice dinner in the evening, but it was a much more subdued affair than what she saw now; everywhere she looked, she saw bright lights strung across buildings and decorations arranged in people’s homes and businesses. There was a cheerful atmosphere wherever she went, and it filled her with joy to have her first Christmas with her new family, especially since last Christmas flew by thanks to everything that had occurred with her pregnancy. Though there wasn’t much money in the way of gifts at the moment, she would nonetheless enjoy celebrating such a happy time with the ones she loved.

“I remember spending so many holidays alone after my father died,” Alisha told Lady. “Birthdays, Christmases, New Year’s… but now I have so many people in my life to celebrate with. I never would have imagined that I would be so happy, especially after…” For a moment she was silent, as her happiness had been mitigated some by the painful memories that she suddenly recalled. Even though she felt happier and healthier in her new home, even though her nightmares became rarer, every so often she would be reminded of her torment, and how her health would likely be permanently be affected from their abuse, and the memories would always be with her...

“Hey,” Lady said, “don’t ever be afraid of talking about what happened; I know you already told me what you went through, but there’s nothing wrong with saying more if that’s what you need to do.” Alisha smiled at her before placing a tired Nero in his stroller.

“Yes, thank you… it’s been a difficult subject for me, but I’m glad that there are people who are willing to listen.”

On her next day off, Alisha spent some spare time to decorate the tree she brought from her Fortuna home in the living room. Much like Dante’s, it was fairly small, but there was still plenty of room to trim it with the gold and silver glass bulbs that still maintained their shine after all these years. Vergil didn’t seem quite as excited as she was, but she never had to ask him twice to assist her with anything she needed. Though she enjoyed seeing so many elaborate decorations out and about, she still wished to keep her own home subtle with its décor.

As she spoon fed Nero at lunchtime, she thought of the past Christmases she had as a child. Her very first Christmas memory was when she was four years old, a time when her mother was still alive. Though the events were a bit blurry, she recalled helping her parents decorate the tree, with her father lifting her up to reach the highest branches. She could still remember her mother’s loving touch as she fell asleep on her lap, her voice soft and comforting. While Alisha did not know her mother for very long, she was grateful that the few memories she had were happy ones, and she hoped that her son’s memories of her would be just as fond.

And Vergil… he seemed rather indifferent to Christmas, even though he still assisted her with whatever she requested. He never really spoke of it either unless she brought up the subject. She supposed it wasn’t surprising, since he had a difficult time telling her about even the happy times of his childhood. And of course, she never wanted to push him into disclosing anything to her that was too painful for him. Still, she hoped that their first Christmas together would give him memories he could look back on fondly.

* * *

Christmas was quickly approaching for Vergil and his family, but while his wife and even his brother seemed to be excited, Vergil felt… conflicted with his feelings. He had pleasant memories of Christmastime when he was a child, with him and his brother opening gifts beneath a brightly decorated tree while his mother and father looked on smiling. A much more innocent time...

The first Christmas after the death of his mother was spent in a long abandoned building, with only a large piece of canvas to keep the chill off. While he once associated the winter snow with snowball fights with his brother, at that point the only thing he could think of was how the air froze him to the bone, and how he had to trudge through the thick layers of white. The cheerful decorations he constantly passed only filled him with sorrow, a reminder of what he lost and would never get back.

But eventually, he learned to hide these feelings away; after all, nothing good would come out of feeling sorry for himself. He learned to ignore the happy memories of days long since passed, knowing that they would only give him regret and sadness. He hardly noticed the gaudy decorations when December approached, and not even the freezing temperatures bothered him anymore. Christmas was just another day for him; thinking of it as anything else was just a meaningless distraction.

But now, things were different; he had a wife and child by his side, and even had his brother again. He finally had what he thought was lost to him forever. And Alisha was excited to have her first Christmas with him and her new family. So he should be happy around this time…right?

Then why was there a lingering sense of melancholy? He loved his wife and son dearly without question, and he was willing to do whatever he could to make her happy. So why didn’t he share in her joy, even when her smile still made his heart tremor? 

“Vergil,” she said at the dinner table. “Is everything all right?”

“Sorry,” he replied. “Just a lot on my mind.” She reached out her hand to touch his own that rested on the table.

“Vergil, if this is a hard time of year for you, then I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“No… I just want to have something… normal again. It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten what it’s like.” She smiled at him as she stroked the back of his hand.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had ‘normal’ too; we can learn together.”

Christmas Day quickly arrived, and their celebrations were small and intimate, something both he and his wife preferred. After breakfast, Alisha eagerly watched as Nero examined the three small boxes wrapped in brightly colored paper under the tree, with Vergil sitting by her side on the floor.

“Here, darling,” she said as she made a small tear at the green and white patterned paper. “Like this.”

“Mama…?” Nero said as he looked up at her.

“That’s right; just like Mama.” Slowly, his little hands began tearing away at the paper, a smile on her face as he eventually unwrapped a set of colorful wooden blocks. Vergil remembered how carefully his wife wrapped the gifts on the kitchen table the previous night, with each of the corners and edges evenly distributed. His own attempt at wrapping one of the boxes wasn’t nearly as neat as her skills, but she looked pleased nonetheless.

“Look, Vergil, I think he wants to open yours next,” she said as Nero reached for the box whose wrapping was crooked at its ends. Following his wife’s example, he helped Nero tear at a corner, who then shredded at the paper, adding to the pile as he unwrapped a set of clothes appropriate for winter.

“Isn’t he the sweetest?” his wife asked as she gathered up the torn paper. Vergil hadn’t even realized the small smile on his face until she said those words. It was difficult to believe that just over a year ago, he would have scoffed at such a thing, to waste time on something that did nothing to benefit his own strength. And now he was fondly watching as his son experienced his first Christmas. Even though Nero would not have any memories of this day, Vergil knew that both he and his wife would never forget.

Alisha… how happy she looked as she watched her son opened his third gift, a light blue blanket she knitted the past three weeks. He remembered her telling him how lonely Christmas was without her father, or even anyone she could call a friend. When he looked at her now, with her cheerful smile and loving voice, it was hard to imagine that she was once sad and lonely, especially since Dante and Lady would be here in the early afternoon. How much had changed in such little time…

Vergil was assisting his wife in making dinner when his brother and Lady arrived, just as it was getting dark.

“Hope you’re ready to smile, Verge,” Dante said with a grin as he pulled a small white camera from his pocket. “So you’d better turn that frown upside down.”

“Hey, careful,” Lady said as she pulled off her coat. “Remember how you almost dropped that the other day? If you break that, you’re buying me another one.”

“That’s right, we don’t really have any pictures of us, do we?” Alisha said as she dried her hands with a towel. “All we have is the one from Fortuna; it’ll be nice to finally have some more, won’t it? Especially since Nero’s still little.” Vergil, of course, still wasn’t one to enjoy having pictures taken of himself, but was willing to do so if it would please his wife.

“Smile, Nero!” Dane said as he pointed the camera to the boy as he sat in his pen. Nero gave his uncle a puzzled look, and a few seconds later, Dante walked away satisfied as he looked at the camera. “Your turn you two.”

Alisha turned towards Dante with a small smile as she stood at the kitchen counter, while Vergil stood by her side glaring into the camera.

“C’mon, Verge, loosen up a bit,” Dante said.

“Just relax,” Alisha said as she held her husband hand. Vergil tried to look a bit less serious as his brother took a photograph.

“Well, it’s a start a least.”

After dinner, Dante was eager to take more pictures. Nero had no qualms about his photo being taken, and was content to continue about his business of playing with his toys while his uncle happily snapped away. Dante tried to take a few pictures of his brother by himself, but Vergil always caught him and quickly turned away before Dante got the chance to do so. Alisha, however, was willing to allow a few photos of herself, particularly while she had Nero in her arms. She was even able to convince Vergil to stand with her while Dante took a picture of the two of them while he held his son, who was getting quite sleepy by now. Luckily, Nero was able to stay awake long enough for Dante to take the first picture of the three of them together.

Before the night was over, Alisha was insistent that pictures be taken of her brother-in-law, as well as Lady, and she soon learned that camera shyness seemed to run in the family, though Dante was still more willing to do so than his brother. Right before Nero needed to be put to bed, she was able to get a picture of her son sleeping peacefully on his uncle’s lap.

Eventually, it was time for Dante and Lady to leave, and Lady told them that she would get the pictures to them as soon as she could. Once they were gone, dishes were washed and leftovers were put away. Finally, Vergil and his wife went to bed.

“Today was nice, wasn’t it?” Alisha said as she joined her husband on the bed. “I think Nero enjoyed it too.” She smiled as he held her close, letting her rest against his chest. Today was indeed more than he expected; though he could have done without his brother’s camera-happy antics, Vergil was glad to spend Christmas with him, something that he thought was a distant memory. And he was happy to see Alisha’s excitement to have her first Christmas with her new family, with not a hint of sadness. She was even pleased with the pair of soft gray gloves he gave her after Nero had opened his gifts.

And somehow, he found himself just as happy as she was; during the days leading up to Christmas, he was worried that he would not be able to share the same joy as his wife, that the sorrows of his past would hold him back. But seeing her smile, the way his son endearingly opened his presents, his brother making his usual wisecracks at the dinner table… today, everything seemed just as it should, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Merry Christmas.”


	18. Papa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter, but hopefully you'll still enjoy it.

The first day of new year came by before anyone realized, and Vergil was spending that day with his family. The afternoon was peaceful as he sat by Alisha on the sofa, with their son sitting on her lap. Just a few moments ago, she was standing in front of the large window, gleefully showing Nero the snowfall that continued to blanket the ground.

“It’s funny,” she said as Nero reached for her locket. “Ever since that day two years ago, I prayed to the Savior every day, hoping that he could give me a better life if I worked hard enough for it. Even though everyone said that I deserved the scorn I received for my sins, I truly believed that Sparda knew that I was innocent, and I thought that if I kept living a virtuous life, I would see the light at the end of the tunnel. And then I met you, and found out that none other than the Savior’s son came for me… it seems he really does work in mysterious ways.”

Despite her initial shock, Alisha seemed to take the realization that her husband was the son of the Savior she worshipped fairly well, and never treated himself, his brother, or Nero any differently. While Vergil never tried to stop her from continuing to pray to Sparda, it was still strange to see her worship the demon who, as far as he knew, wasn’t any different than any other father. Still, if it continued to give her comfort, he had no reason to object.

Things were business as usual at the Devil May Cry office after the holidays; work was still inconsistent, but Vergil and his wife were able to provide themselves and their son a comfortable life. Dante, however, continued to live rather sparsely, and refused to take a higher commission for himself, despite his ever growing debt to Lady, insisting that his family needed the money more than he did. Meanwhile, little Nero was becoming much more active, crawling around the floor so quickly that it was difficult to keep up with him.

“Guess you’re trying to keep your old man out of trouble,” Dante said as he pulled his nephew out from under the desk.

“Mama,” Nero replied.

“Yeah, I’m sure she’s helping too.”

One night, while Vergil and his wife were resting in bed, Nero was making quite a fuss, to which Alisha quickly went to check on him. Vergil asked if she needed any help, but she insisted that she would be all right on her own. While Nero cried as any other infant would, he was usually fairly quick to be soothed, particularly when his mother was the one to do so. This time, however, he seemed to be quite distressed, crying longer than usual. Then, as his crying was starting to die down, Alisha called for her husband.

“Vergil! Come here! Quickly!” she cried. He quickly stepped out of bed and ran to Nero’s room, worried that someone was hurt.

“What’s wrong?” he said as he rushed to his wife.

“Nothing,” she replied as she continued to rock her son, who was still whining some. “Here, just listen.” She readjusted Nero so that he was facing his father. “Look, Nero, it’s Papa. _Papa_.”

“Pa…” Nero said as he looked up at Vergil. “Pa… Papa…”

In that moment, Vergil felt a tremor in his chest that gave him a feeling he couldn’t describe. He was left completely speechless as his son finally stopped crying as he called out for his papa. Not knowing what else to do, he gently took Nero from his wife, holding him close.

“I heard him say it when he was starting to calm down a little,” she said. “Looks like he wanted to see you.”

“Papa,” Nero repeated as he cuddled his head against his father’s chest.

How strange; the word his son uttered was a simple two syllable word, one that was hardly different from the other two that he so often repeated. And yet, hearing Nero say that simple word filled him with a sense of pride and joy that he never expected to feel from such an action. It made him... happy.

“Papa”… that was a term he could grow to quite like being referred to.


	19. Beautiful

The once overwhelming snow steadily began to thaw as winter slowly gave way to spring. The weather was starting to warm up as well, which meant Alisha could forgo wearing her thick stockings and heavy boots. Even the thick layer of ice that covered the lake was beginning to melt. 

Now that Nero was becoming more active, Alisha couldn't wait until spring officially came, so that she could play with him out in the fresh air and nature. Vergil had told her that there were many flowers that were planted on the property, and she was excited to see them for herself. 

Lately, she began to take more notice of her physical appearance. In Fortuna, she was called "pretty", but not in a way that flattered her; she was called a temptress and a slut who used her beauty to seduce any man she saw. How ironic that being called pretty so often only made her feel ugly. 

But Vergil... she loved it when he called her beautiful, and felt her heart skip a beat every time he did. And he didn't make her feel beautiful solely for her appearance; he made her feel like a person worth loving, someone worthy of affection and to be by someone's side. Never would she have thought she would be blessed to have someone like him in her life.

Recently, however, she began to notice some less than pleasant aspects of her body: though her was body slender, she also couldn't say she was shapely, as her breasts and hips were rather small, which gave her an unremarkable frame. She also had a dislike for the way her knees were so prominent on her legs. It didn't usually bother her because she always wore stockings over long skirts, but she had since become more aware of them because of how much her husband saw her unclothed. And then of course, there was the unsightly cesarean scar along her belly... She knew that it was wrong to be vain, but she couldn't help but notice these flaws. 

"Vergil," she asked him one evening at the dinner table, "do you... do you really think I'm... Beautiful?"

"Of course," he replied without missing a beat. "Is there something wrong?"

"No... Everything's fine," she said with a small smile. While she was pleased to hear him say so, she couldn't help but wonder if it was only because of his obligation to her as her husband. 

Later that night, much to her dismay, she was awakened by Vergil in bed after another nightmate, one of the few she had since she arrived at the cottage. She sniffled as she wiped away her tears with her hand, embarrassed of the foolish things she dreamt about.

"Are you all right now?" he asked. She nodded her head as he stroked her hair. "Was it about that place again?" 

"No... It was something silly, that's all."

"You don't have to be afraid of telling me." 

"Well... What happened was I was walking down the stairs as normal, and you were in the kitchen with your back turned to me. Then I noticed your wedding ring on the dining table. When I asked what this was about, you simply said that you no longer loved me, and that from now on, your brother would take care of me and Nero. I begged you to stay, but you didn't care as you walked right out the door..."

She sniffled again before letting out a forced chuckle. "It's foolish, isn't it? To think that you would do such a thing. But I suppose that now that I'm away from my old home, there's something else that has to worry me, even if it doesn't make any sense..."

"Alisha..." He leaned his head downwards to kiss her forehead. "Alisha, I want you to know that..." He hesitated for a moment, as though trying to find the right words. "I want you to know that I think you're... Beautiful, in every way."

She could faintly see his cheeks turning red in the small light from the bedside lamp before continuing. "I know I'm not exactly... proficient in talking about this. But every day I'm grateful to have you by my side. You've given me peace, something I thought I would never have again. You even gave me back a family... I never thought I would have someone who cared for me the way you do." 

He gently cupped his hand along her warm cheek. "I always found you beautiful... And I always loved your soft hair, your sparkling eyes, your warm smile... There's nothing about you that isn't beautiful."

Just then, she suddenly started crying again, tears streaming down her cheeks as Vergil made a panicked noise.

"I'm sorry," he quickly said. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," she replied as she wiped her tears away once more. "I... I'm just so happy that you think so much of me. I never doubted that you loved me, but I never thought that you felt all of this..." He gave her a small smile before placing a kiss at her lips. A few seconds later, Nero started crying.

"I'll take care of him," he said as he stepped out of bed. A smile spread across her lips as she watched him leave the bedroom. How happy she felt, knowing that the rest of her life would be by his side.


	20. The First Spring

It was not long until spring made its presence known; the sun shone brightly throughout the day, making the air pleasantly warm, and everything smelled clean and fresh after a spring shower. Gone was the winter snow that blanketed the land, replaced by flower buds that quickly blossomed into colorful blooms that soon attracted little white and yellow butterflies. It would not be long until the white and vibrant pink lilies near the lake would bloom, much to Alisha's excitement. Even Nero seemed excited with the changing of the seasons, as he always wanted to look out the window when his mother or father was holding him.

Today, she invited Dante and Lady to the cottage for a picnic lunch. She spread a large, white blanket across a clearing of grass, and served the sandwiches, fruits, and tea she had prepared. Little Nero was also quite excited the be able to crawl around by himself, and took great interest in the new surrounds. He had quite the difficult time sitting still, wanting to touch everything and anything he set his eyes on. 

"I can't believe he's almost a year old," she said as she stopped him from wandering too far the blanket. 

"Hey, Verge, that boat should still be in good condition, right?" Dante said before popping a strawberry in his mouth.

"I believe so," Vergil replied. 

"How about you and Alisha take it for a spin? Lady and I will watch Nero while you two can have a little alone time."

"You know it's been years since I've used it."

I'm sure it'll be fine," Alisha said. "We should take advantage of the nice weather as much as possible."

"Well... I suppose so then."

So Vergil retrieved the white wooden rowboat from the small shed it was stored it, preparing it at the small dock. He carefully helped Alisha seat herself in the boat before rowing towards the center of the water, leaving a trail of ripples as he rowed forward, and making the small fish swim out of the way. The sun made the surface of the lake sparkle, and was covered in freshly bloomed water lilies, which attracted some small dragonflies. Across from them, Dante waved at the two as he held Nero in his lap. After a few minutes of rowing, Vergil stopped, allowing him and his wife to enjoy the ambiance. 

"This lake is beautiful," Alisha said. "I can't wait until Nero's old enough to join us." 

"Alisha," he said as he took her hand in his. "Thank you... for everything."

"What do you mean?"

"You've not only given me so much, but you've also given back so much that I though I lost; I always thought that having my brother in my life again was a lost cause, that it wasn't worth pursuing. But now, it seems... normal again. Thank you." She gave him a soft smile before stroking his cheek and kissing him. It was still difficult for Vergil to open up his feelings to her, but she was always happy when he did, and she never failed to let him know that.

* * *

Dante smiled as he watched his brother and Alisha spend some "alone time" out on the lake. It had been so long since he had been on a "family outing"- picnics, walks in the park, trips into the city- that he had almost forgotten what it felt like, and had grown used to spending longs days alone in the office. But spending time like this with his family gave him a joy that he once took advantage of. And Nero... the kid probably wouldn't remember this in ten years, his uncle making sure he didn't run off while his mom and dad had their little date; but it would be fine, because Dante would be there to remember it all for him.

"Hey," Lady said. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Dante replied as he plucked a daisy from the grass to distract Nero with.

"Really? You're just staring off into space with that goofy smile of yours thinking about nothing."

"Sure, why not?" 

After about half an hour, Vergil and Alisha returned from the lake and back to Dante and Lady. Nero quickly exclaimed "Mama," as he crawled over to her with the daisy in hand, which she accepted with a smile. After a while, Dante and Lady said their goodbyes and returned to the office. So his nephew's first birthday was right around the corner... what new surprises would be in store, he wondered?


	21. An Impending Threat

Before they knew it, Nero was officially a year old. 

Alisha had planned a small celebration at her home on his birthday, and had baked a chocolate cake for the occassion, as she could only imagine her son had inherited both of his parents' liking of the flavor. Unfortunately, Dante and Lady both had their hands full with missions, but Dante insisted that both Vergil and Alisha take the day off in order to spend it with their son. He also had a large, plush blue dragon delivered to their doorstep the day of Nero's birthday, one that was a few inches taller and wider than the one-year-old, with soft "scales" and beady black eyes. Its new home was now in Nero's room, sitting in the corner next to the crib.

"I hope Dante didn't spend too much on this," Alisha said as her son looked at the toy curiously. "He already does so much for us." Nero, at least, took quite a liking to the plush dragon, and tried to reach up to grab its arm. When he gave it a pull, the body leaned forward and knocked him over on his back. Vergil rushed over to his son, despite the fact that he didn't look distressed in the slightest, but Alisha couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her little Nero fighting a dragon.

After lunch, Alisha cut a slice of cake for Nero, and placed a single candle into it before lighting the wick, his eyes nothing short of entranced by the dancing flame.

"Happy birthday, Nero," she said. "Make a wish..." After waiting a few seconds, she gently blew out the candle, leaving a little grey trail of smoke behind. After pulling out the candle, Nero didn't waste a second to dig his hands into the cake, his fingers and face quickly becoming covered in frosting. "I think he likes it," she added with a chuckle as he left quite the mess all over himself and the little table attached to his chair.

When nighttime came, Alisha and Vergil spent some time alone on the sofa together after Nero was put to bed. There was plenty of cake leftover from today, and she would make sure to bring some to work for Dante and Lady tomorrow. It brought back memories of when her and her husband celebrated both of their birthdays together, and how she made the very same chocolate cake, a recipe her father taught her and baked for her birthdays as a child.

"Do you remember the day Nero was born?" Alisha said. "He came a whole two weeks earlier than expected. I guess he must have been so excited to meet us that he couldn't wait."

"How could I forget?" Vergil replied. "I thought I would lose you that day..." She reached out to softly grasp his hand.

"Well, everything's fine now, and we have a wonderful family. And despite all the complications, I'm so happy to have our little Nero in our lives." A smile spread across her lips when she felt Vergil place a kiss at the crown of her head, and she leaned against his shoulder for comfort. Just one year ago, they were busily preparing the cottage to be lived in, contacting the power company to make sure everything was running properly, removing the white sheets covering the furniture, bringing over her belongings from Fortuna... And now they had a quiet, but happy life, where they would always have their family...

Just then, the phone started ringing, suddenly interrupting their moment.

"I got it," Vergil said as he stood from the couch. How strange, Alisha thought; who could be calling at this hour?

"Hello?" Vergil said into the phone. After a few seconds, he furrowed his brow and said, "right now? It's late; can't it wait until morning?" He let out a sigh after a few more seconds. "Fine. I'll be over soon." He placed the phone back on the wall before turning back to his wife.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"My brother wants me to come over to the office; he says it's urgent."

"Now? Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure. But he probably wouldn't be requesting that I come over this late unless it was something important."

"Well... all right. Just be careful." He gave her a quick kiss before promptly departing. What trouble was waiting for him this time?

* * *

When Vergil arrived at the Devil May Cry office, he was immediately taken aback a the destruction that had apparently occurred; the once neat office space was left completely in shambles, including the door, and a red motorbike had somehow managed to find its way inside. Had he not known any better, he might have thought a typhoon had blown through while he was gone.

"Nice to see you've decided to come over," a woman's voice said. Vergil turned to the source of the voice and nearly staggered backwards at what he saw; standing before him was a woman that was the exact image of his mother. Her hair, her eyes, even her voice was exactly as he remembered it. It was as though she was alive and breathing again, as though she had returned to him... for a moment, he thought he was dreaming.

Quickly, Vergil unsheathed his blade and was prepared to attack. He was no fool; he knew that his mother was dead, and that nothing could bring her back. Whatever this creature was before him, it was not her and never would be.

"Whoa, Verge, stop!" Dante said as he quickly stood between her and his brother.

"Dante, I don't know what's going on here, but whatever this is, this is not our mother!" Before Dante could say any more, Vergil charged right past him and raised Yamato, prepared to strike the strange woman. But to his surprise, she had grabbed the blade without a single sign of struggle just as it was about to cut her down. Then her hand began to glow yellow with energy while it was in her grasp, which caused him to become electrocuted, making him groan in pain for several seconds before she released the blade.

"Calm down," she said. "I'm not your enemy. My name is Trish. And I need both you and your brother's help..."

At Dante's insistence, Vergil quietely listed to Trish's story; apparently, Mundus was well on his way to opening the gates that separated the Human World from the Demon World at a place called Mallet Island. If this was true, then there could be mass destruction and chaos just around the corner. Still, Vergil had little reason to trust a woman who just so happened to look identical to his mother. Whatever was happening, he could sense that this woman wasn't all who she said she was, and he had learned a long time ago not to blindly trust a person who seemed to have good intentions.

"I see you still distrust me," she said. "And perhaps you're right to do so. But just know that regardless of how you feel, the reign of Mundus is imminent should you refuse to help me." The only response he gave her was silence. "Well, I'll meet you here tomorrow morning. That is, if you choose to do so." With that, she left the office, heading off and leaving the two brothers behind.

"Verge, I really think you should come with me tomorrow," Dante said. "If Mundus is really trying to enter the Human World, then we're _all_ going to be in some serious shit."

"Why are you so quick to trust her?" Vergil said. "Don't tell me it's because she looks like our mother." Much to Vergil's disappointment, Dante didn't respond, but he knew what he was thinking. 

"Look, think of it this way: if the both of us are together, then we'll be able to kick whoever's ass is trying to kill us, whether it's Mundus, Trish, or whatever else comes our way. If nothing else, maybe we can finish what our dad started." Perhaps Dante had a point; while Vergil still disapproved of how quick his brother was to trust Trish, the two of them together would have a better chance at stopping whatever threat may come their way. And if Mundus really was trying to escape from the Demon World, then they couldn't afford to simply ignore her warning, no matter how suspicious she appeared to be.

It seemed there was no other choice.


	22. Living Nightmare

There was only darkness as far as Vergil could see, and the only sound that reached his ears were his footsteps echoing into the void. He did not recall how he arrived here, nor did he know why. Whatever the case may be, the only thing he could do was keep walking forward, hoping to arrive at his unknown destination. 

Suddenly, he heard a low rumbling, and he could feel the ground tremble beneath his feet. Quickly, he withdrew his blade, frantically looking for the source of the disturbance. 

Who's there?!" he called, his voice echoing in the nothingness. Then came a low, chilling laugh in response.

Before he knew it, his surroundings slowly became visible to him. The ground he was standing upon was covered with rows upon rows of strange, root-like appendages, that made it seems as though he was walking on a living creature. Little by little, he could see more of the roots' length, as though they were leading him somewhere.

Then he finally saw the source of the cold chuckle he heard a moment ago: seated upon a throne of skulls was an enormous, grotesque creature. The same, root-like appendages that Vergil was currently standing on also covered the monstrous demon, as though it were its flesh. Four eyes gazed at the half-demon, deadly and foreboding, a spiked crown resting at his head. Long, sharp claws, tipped its fingers, and its sickening grin revealed dagger-like teeth. Above its right shoulder was a large, glowing red crystal. Just looking at this monstrosity filled Vergil with an intense sense of dread that filled him to his core, as though he was staring at the ruler of this nightmarish domain.

"I am you," the creature said, "the you that's suffocated by your humanity; I am who you truly are."

If Dante where here, Vergil could only imagine that his brother would make some kind of sarcastic quip in regards to its grotesque appearance. But that did nothing to keep the demon's words from filling Vergil with confusion.

"My... true self...?" Vergil quietly said, unable to tear his eyes away from the demon. This thing... this terrible creature... was this the "real" him? The manifestation of his true desires?

Then a shiver ran down his spine when he heard a familiar whimper. Quickly, he looked upwards and fear shot through his veins at what he saw: wrapped tightly in thick roots was his wife, suspended upside down and slowly being lowered until she was in Vergil's line of sight. Frantically, she wriggled in the roots' grasp, eyes filled with tears as she desperately struggled to escape, but her efforts were all in vain. The enormous demon that held her prison simply laughed at her pathetic attempts, mocking her human weakness.

"Vergil..." she said, trying as hard as she could to not start sobbing. "Please... help me... please, Vergil..."

A sharp gasp escaped her lips when a long claw slowly ran across her reddened cheek, leaving a streak of blood along her skin as she started to cry in pain. The size of his hand looked as though he could crush her to dust with hardly any effort.

"Look at how weak she is," the demon said, clearly adoring the fear she so clearly expressed. "A weak, fragile waif... a pretty little thing... but her very existence eats away at your true potential..."

With a furious cry, Vergil charged at the demon, his blade prepared to strike as he leapt towards his foe. But as soon as he was about to strike, his attack was quickly blocked with a barrier that appeared to manifest from the crystal.

Before he had a chance to catch his breath, projectiles created from energy began flying towards him, and he just barely avoided being hit. Again and again, the demon shot energy towards Vergil, who hurriedly dodged each attack, all while Alisha continued to struggle within her binds.

"Let her go, damn it!" Vergil shouted. "If she's so useless to you, then why do you still have her?!" The demon chuckled once more as he reached towards Alisha, which made her wriggle even more, an expression of nothing but pure fear on her face.

"I could ask you the same," he said as his fingers began to grip at her head. "If only you ended her pathetic existence, you could finally rid yourself of this worthless burden, and find the strength you truly desire."

"I know you're not me; no matter how much power lies ahead, I will never sacrifice her for it!"

"Then it seems I need to take matters into my own hand... if you refuse to do what's necessary, then I will."

Without wasting a second, the demon roughly twisted her head, and Vergil heard a loud, horrifying _snap_ before he saw his beloved wife's body fall still, her head dangling limp and lifeless...

_No..._

* * *

"Verge!"

Vergil woke up with a start when he heard his brother's voice, quickly sitting upright from where he lay. To his left, his brother was crouched by his side, looking almost as frightened as he was. When he began to observe his surroundings, it did not take long for him to realize he and his brother were in a dark chapel.

"Do you remember what happened?" Dante asked. "You were swallowed up by Nightmare. Looks like you left it behind. You okay? You kept shouting 'no' when I tried to wake you up."

"Right..." Vergil said as he slowly stood to his feet. There was a slight throbbing in his head, but it was already beginning to subside. "I... I saw Alisha... dead... there was nothing I could do for her..."

"Well, you're back to the real world now; Lady's watching over her back at your house. She'll be safe and sound when we get back."

"Yes, of course... let's keep going..."

Though he continued making his way through the strange castle alongside his brother, the visions Vergil witnessed continued to haunt his mind. His wife was not worthless; she gave him peace and emotional fulfillment, something he never thought he would ever need until she showed him what he was missing. She gave him a son and nearly died to bring him into the world, her devotion not once wavering even for a moment. Without her, he would not have his brother standing by his side right now, and she gave him the family he never thought he would have. How foolish of him to even imagine that she was nothing to him.

Still... he could not help but ponder what would happen if their paths never crossed.

What would have happened if he were to raise the Temen-ni-gru with Arkham? Would he have slain his brother and gained the power of Sparda that he so desired? Killing his brother was not something he ever really wanted to do. But at the time, he saw it as a necessary evil, and it would have been for the best for him to it over with quickly, so he would no longer have the dread weighing on his shoulders. Of course, he dare not even think of doing such a thing now, not when they were finally on good terms with one another again. Yes, he was truly happy now, and that was more than he could ask for.

Nonetheless... it was true that even early on, he also felt a strong sense of duty to take care of her. Not only was her health rather delicate, she had been shunned and scorned by her own homeland, and he was one of the few people she could trust. Perhaps it wasn't surprising that they became attached to one another as quickly as they did. He put aside his own ambitions for her sake, promising her a peaceful life far away from prying eyes. And when she became pregnant, his pursuit for strength had all been cast aside, for he knew that he could not keep her and their child safe if he abandoned them for his own desires. He had even cast aside the chance to gain his father's strength, knowing how much it would distress her.

Of course, if that was the case, then it was true that she was standing in the way of the ultimate strength he sought after. After all, everything he had sacrificed could all be traced back to her...

He quickly chased the thought from his mind; how could he possibly think that he would have been better off without meeting her? Yes, it was true that he had to put his original ambitions on hold for her, but if he hadn't then she wouldn't have given him the life he had at this very moment. Whatever that demon in his nightmare told him, he knew that it wasn't true; his wife was not a burden, or worthless. It was a nightmare, and nothing more. He refused to believe otherwise.

The mysterious island was crawling with demons, and the castle was filled with strange puzzles. Who could have resided her, so many years ago, the twins thought. It seemed that the castellan took quite an interest in demons, and how to harness their power. Perhaps that was what caused the master of this island to meet his demise... It was also clear that this land was overflowing with demonic energy, and it was no surprise that Mundus was using it to attempt to emerge into the Human World once more. Luckily, the brothers were able to make their way through the bizarre castle and entered the Demon World, prepared to end Mundus' reign once and for all.

Again, the twins encountered Nightmare, who was waiting in its cavernous den for them. Across from them, Trish lay on the ground, injured and pleading for help as a barrier surrounded the twins.

"Dante! Vergil! Help me!" she cried. Vergil knew that this woman was not his mother, and refused to be swayed the same way his brother was because of her appearance. He had made that clear the moment he met her. And yet, hearing her voice cry out to him, the same voice as his mother's, and to see her in distress and reaching out to him, made his heart sting with sorrow, and filled him with drive to destroy the creature that harmed her.

"Trish, stay back," Dante said as he drew his blade.

The two fought the gelatinous creature, with Vergil taking extra care not to get swallowed up again. Luckily, it seemed their efforts were finally taking a toll on the demon, and it looked as though it would soon be defeated. Suddenly, a yellow bolt of lightning shot through the barrier, hitting Dante in the back and causing him to fall to the ground with a pained grunt.

"Dante!" Vergil cried. Then he heard a menacing laugh. When he turned his head towards Trish, she wore a wicked countenance as lightning danced between her fingers, prepared to strike again.

"Trish... You...?" Dante said as he struggled to stand to his feet. She gave both of them a cold, mocking laugh.

"You should have listened to your brother, Dante; Your presence has become a hindrance to my master’s bloody scheme. Now Die!"

Vergil raised his sword, prepared to charge after her, but felt his brother's hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Ignore her," he said. "We've gotta get rid of this thing first."

Reluctantly, Vergil continued to assist his brother in killing the Nightmare, while taking care to avoid Trish's lightning. It was not long until it finally began to melt away for good, dying with a blood-curdling shriek while white lasers began to burst forth around the room and causing rubble to fall to the ground. Then they both saw Trish prepared to fight them. As they readied themselves to fight her, she noticed a large piece of rubble above her that was about to crush her. She cried out, knowing that it was too late for her, and covered her face as she braced herself for her pathetic demise. But as Vergil stood by watching without a hint of remorse, his brother suddenly leapt towards her, pushing her out of the way just in time. When he saw that she was safe, he stood back up and walked towards Vergil again.

"Dante!" she cried as she stood up. "Dante, why did you save me?" With a furious growl, Vergil charged towards her, blade raised high and prepared to kill her.

"Verge, stop!" Dante said as he stood in front of her.

"Move, Dante," he replied. "I'm ending this." He gave his brother a hard shove out of the way before he striking. But instead of attacking Trish, Dante held Yamato's blade tightly in his fist, cringing as blood began to trickle from his palm.

"Don't," Dante said. "She's not worth it." He released the blade before turning to Trish once more. "You may look like our mother, but you're nowhere close to her. You have no soul! You have the face, but you'll never have her fire!" With a huff, he turned around and to his brother. "Let's go, Verge..."

Vergil took one last look at Trish; she looked shocked, confused... perhaps she even felt a small hint of guilt. But his brother was right; he knew that it was better to leave her to whatever fate was awaiting her. And though he dare not admit it, he knew the sight of killing a woman who had his mother's face would haunt him forever. So without a word, he sheathed his blade and followed his brother, leaving her behind.


	23. Lingering Doubts

Eventually, the twins found themselves in what appeared to be a chapel, covered floor to ceiling in white as light poured through the grand pillars. To Vergil, it bore more than a passing resemblance to the enormous church in Fortuna. At the end of the chapel was a gigantic statue of none other than Mundus, proudly seated on his ivory throne. Perhaps it was little surprise that Mundus would portray himself as a god in the same way the citizens of Fortuna did for Sparda. 

“Again, I must face Sparda,” Mundas’ booming voice said to the twins. “Strange fate, isn’t it?”

“Strange and ironic that it will end the same way,” Dante proudly boasted. Mundus simply chuckled in response.

“Irony has favored you this time. Look, there.”

Suddenly, an enormous beam of light shot upwards from Mundus’ chest, pointing to something. When the twins followed the light with their line of sight, they saw Trish manacled helplessly high above them in the rear of the building.

“Trish!” Dante drew his blade, prepared to assist her, but Mundus was quick to stop him.

“Don’t even think about it. Blink, she dies.”

“You…!” Both brothers charged after their foe, but then Dante’s body was penetrated with three large lasers, immobilizing him as he groaned in pain, staggering as he tried to regain his balance.

“Dante!” Vergil cried. He turned his attention back to Mundus, but before he could attack, he cried out in agony as pain shattered through his skull and made its way through every nerve in his being. So much agony did his body feel that he collapsed onto the ground, writhing pathetically as he lay unable to help his brother.

“I have seen your worst nightmares,” Mundus said. “I have seen what haunts your existence, son of Sparda. No matter how much you may try to fight it, your very soul is at my mercy.”

“D-Damn you…” Vergil hissed as he glared upwards at Mundus' blurry image. Desperately, he tried to fight the pain, to force himself to stand back on his feet and help his brother. But all his attempts were in vain, completely useless. The last thing he heard was Trish’s voice calling out both of their names, before he succumbed to the agony, his vision fading into darkness as his eyelids fell shut.

* * *

Vergil suddenly found himself standing in a place that was very familiar. Surrounding the walls were rows upon rows of books, their distinct scent quickly putting him at ease. Through the large windows poured in the afternoon sunlight, brightly illuminating the room. In the middle of the room was a set of two cozy leather sofas and two armchairs, placed upon a shiny wooden floor, just waiting for someone to sit down in one of them with a book in hand.

“I know this place…” Vergil said as he ran his fingers across the back of the sofa.

“Of course you do,” a voice suddenly said. “After all, it is your childhood home.”

Vergil turned around and came face to face with a stranger, a young man who stood slender and pale, with jet black hair that reached his shoulders. From head to toe, he was dressed in black, with dark sigils tattooed on his skin. A smile was spread across his lips, and yet, Vergil could not help but feel a sense of uneasiness as he looked at the strange man.

“Who are you?” Vergil asked.

“Why, I’m you of course,” the man replied in a matter-of-fact tone. _Again?_ Vergil thought.

“I’m not sure I understand…” The man, who was Vergil, apparently, simply chuckled in response as he approached him.

“You never did have a good relationship with me since that day; you shunned me, told me I was nothing but a hindrance, and tried to pretend I didn’t exist. But that seems to be changing, isn’t it?” Just then, he heard the door open, and a familiar voice called his name.

“Vergil!” Alisha cried. When he turned around he was greeted with the warm sight of her wonderful smile. He raised his arms, prepared to hold her in his embrace. But to his shock, she walked right past him, and fell into the arms of the stranger instead. There was no way one could see that man’s embrace as anything but a lover’s hold, adoring and protective as her head lay against his chest. It filled Vergil’s heart with disgust, and he was all too tempted to impale him with Yamato in that instant.

“I’m afraid she can’t see you,” the stranger replied before he gave her and kiss and let her go. “You see, this is the side of you that she fell in love with.” How Vergil detested that smug grin on that man’s face. “She loves your devotion, your courage, your cherishment… unfortunately, you’re also… corrupted.”

“What are you trying to say?” Vergil asked.

“You see, for as much as she loves all of these things, she is still very much aware of the monster that lies within you; though her heart is overflowing with love for you, she’s also well aware that you’re still a demon through and through, and that there are some things that cannot be changed. Don’t you think, that if she had the power to do so, she would wash away your darkness, your pain, so that you could finally leave that all behind?”

Before Vergil could respond, flames suddenly engulfed the library, setting the entire room ablaze. Alisha gasped, frightened, and the strange man quickly held her tight, shielding her with his body. It did not take long for the fire to devour everything in its path, but his wife and the strange continued to stand in place.

“This is what your darkness will lead to,” the stranger said, his voice cold and unwavering as the flames danced around him. “With power comes destruction, and everything you cherish will fall by your hand, for that is the nature of a demon. If you truly treasure those you love, you will do well to remember that.”

* * *

For the second time that day, Vergil awakened with a start, rapidly pulled from his dreams as he sat upright. Again, a stranger that claimed to be none other than himself delivered a cryptic message, one that haunted him to his core. It seemed there were two very different sides of him fighting for dominance, warning him of the other side. But what was he to do about it?

Just then, he noticed Trish’s limp body laying just a few feet across from him. When he crawled over to her, she felt cold and lifeless, her heart remaining still as her face looked peculiarly peaceful.

“Trish?” he asked as he pulled her into his lap. Gently, he shook her body, as though he were a child who thought that she was merely asleep. But alas, she continued to lay still.

He found himself raising his hand to carefully stroke her cheek. He knew that this woman was a traitor, something he suspected from the very beginning. And it was not long ago he felt rightly enraged at her, wondering if he made the right choice to let her live. And yet, that did not change that fact that at this very moment, he was gazing at his mother’s lifeless face, and holding her body in a similar manner to the way she once held him when he was a child. This was the closest thing he had to seeing his mother again, and he could not stop the sorrow that grew within his heart.

“Vergil…” he heard her say. Slowly her eyes opened, and she gave him a look that was filled with love and comfort, something that he quickly recognized. It was at that moment he realized it was not Trish that had been revived…

“M-Mother…?” Vergil said. If he was still dreaming, he begged whatever was keeping him asleep to not wake him up, not yet.

“Vergil…” She gave him a loving smile as she slowly reached her hand upwards to touch his face. “I’m so happy… for you… you’ve found happiness again... I’m so proud of you, my sweet Vergil…”

Before he could find the right words to respond to her, the life in her body was extinguished just as quickly as it had been revived, her body falling limp once more in his arms. Tears soon welled up in his eyes as he gazed at her lifeless form, the pain in his soul nothing short of agonizing.

“No, please…” Vergil said as he shook her once more, desperately begging for her to open her eyes again. “Please, Mother, come back to me… please, don’t leave me Mother… please, Mother… please…”

He began sobbing as he held her close to his chest, pleading for his mother to return to him. It was her, he knew it was her… it had to be. Even after all these years, he could never forget her. For a moment she was here… and a moment later she was gone once more…

“Verge…” he heard Dante’s voice say. When he turned his head, he saw his brother kneeling down next to him, a somber look on his face. “She gave her life for us, you know. Just like our mother did…” He started trembling, a tear ever so slowly rolling down his cheek as he gazed at Trish’s lifeless body. “I should have saved you… I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with light!”

He cried out loud enough for his voice to echo within the chapel, as though letting the heavens know of his sorrow, his tears dropping onto Trish cheek. So it seemed this demon had a change of heart after all… Vergil admitted that he would have had his doubts, but he seeing his brother’s earnestness dispelled any misgivings he might have had. Not even he could hold hatred for someone that gave their life to protect another…

As Vergil gently laid Trish on the ground, Dante removed the amulet from his neck before placing it above her heart.

“This was my mother’s,” he said. “Now I’m giving it to you.” Then he took the Sparda sword and planted it into the floor where she lay, marking her final resting place. “My father’s also here now… Rest in peace…”

Slowly, Dante stood to his feet once more, continuing his mission. Vergil looked back at Trish one last time before following his brother; it was time to end this for good.

* * *

Alisha woke up earlier than usual this morning, her worries keeping her from getting a full night’s rest. Lady was still asleep on the sofa bed in the living room, and even little Nero was still quietly sleeping. She was careful not to make too much noise as she walked down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen to prepare a kettle of water. Just the other day, they were celebrating their son’s first birthday, and now she was anxiously awaiting his return on another dangerous mission, one that may very well keep the Human World from being destroyed. She supposed it wasn’t expected that the sons of the Savior would be involved in such dangerous circumstances, but that did nothing to calm her nerves as she desperately tried not to think of the idea of her husband not returning home.

Just as she removed the whistling kettle, she heard a knock at the door. She quickly ran over to answer it, praying that he would be there. And when she saw his face, exhausted, but alive, she felt an enormous wave of relief was over her.

“Vergil,” she said as she took him by the hand and pulled him inside. “You’re safe… thank goodness…” She feel into his chest, letting him hold her as close to him as possible. But though she was not surprised to see that he was happy to come home to her, she could not help but notice that he was hugging her tighter than she ever felt before. “Vergil…?” He gave her no response as he refused to let her go, as though she would disappear if he released her for even a moment, heaving a heavy sigh of relief.

“Hey, you’re back,” Lady said. This seemed to finally get him release her. It looked like he didn’t even seem to realize what he had done until Lady was able to divert his attention. “How’s Dante?”

“He’s fine,” Vergil replied. “He should be back at the office by now.” As he spoke, Alisha could hear that the tone of his voice was rather quiet, as though something in his spirit had been harmed.

“Well, I’ll get dressed and check on things then.”

“Do you want any breakfast?” Alisha asked.

“No, that’s not necessary; besides, I should probably get there as soon as possible to make sure he’s staying out of trouble.”

After they said their goodbyes to Lady, Alisha and Vergil were left alone, and an awkward silence lingered between the two of them.

“How about I make some pancakes?” she finally said. “It’s the least I can do for someone that just saved the world.” Right as she turned around to make her way to the kitchen cabinets, he spun her around and immediately locked her into a deep kiss. It was desperate and needy, as though it was the first time he had seen her in an eternity. She was more than happy to see him alive, of course, but she knew something was wrong. Then at last, he released her, giving her a chance to breathe.

“Vergil,” she said, “what happened?”

“Alisha,” he replied, the look of urgency in his eyes frightening her. “Do you love me?”

“W-What?”

“Please, Alisha, just answer.”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“But why?”

“’Why…?’ Vergil, what are you trying to-“

“Damn it, just answer the question!”

Alisha staggered away from him, shocked that he had raised his voice at her. But she could see the immediate regret he had in his eyes as he gazed downwards.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just… I saw a lot of things that made me doubt myself… and you… I want to keep both you and Nero safe. But I don’t know if I can…” Just then, Nero started crying; it must have been ready for him to eat too.

“We can talk about this after we’ve all had something to eat,” she said as she stroked his cheek. “For now, just rest; I can tell you’ve been through a lot.” She gave him a kiss before heading back upstairs. She would have been lying to herself if she said she didn’t have her own doubts about her abilities as a wife and mother. But she knew that he would always be there for her, and that they could reassure each other. But that could wait; for now, they would spend a little time to relax.


	24. Growing

It was not long until Trish became a new employee of Devil May Cry. In a moment of inspiration, Dante renamed the shop "Devil Never Cry", but a few months later, the old name returned once he realized he didn't like it quite as much. Luckily, that didn't slow down the work the office received on a regular basis. Despite her history with Mundus, it was clear that she had no intention of staying loyal to the demon that saw her as nothing more than a disposable tool, and she proved to be more than capable of killing her fair share of demons. 

And for the next two years, Nero rapidly grew before their eyes; it was not long until he began taking his first steps and babbling away to anyone that would listen. He was quite the energetic child, to the point where even Dante had trouble keeping up. Not that he minded; he never failed to make his nephew laugh at his antics, and helped him burn some of the energy by the time the day was done.

Meanwhile, both Alisha and Vergil had their hands quite full back at home. Their son was always eager to see what his mama and papa were doing, whether it was watching his mother cook dinner, or trying to make sense of the words on the pages of his father's book. But they were always willing to indulge his curiosity; Alisha let him stand on a stool in front of the kitchen counter to watch her cooking, and Vergil would pull him into his lap and read aloud as Nero listened intently. Though he was curious and active, he was such a sweet child, and not even Vergil could resist smiling when he saw his son always wanting to be near him.

Today, Vergil was coming home after a two day out of town assignment with his brother. Nero was sitting on the living room rug playing with his plush blue dragon while Alisha was busy preparing the vegetables for the roast, humming away as she did so. Then, she heard a knock at the door.

"Papa!" Nero cried as he ran to the door, nearly tripping along the way. A moment later, the door opened, and Vergil knelt down so that he could pull his son into a hug.

"Have you been taking good care of your mother while I was gone?" Vergil asked. Nero responded with a proud, firm nod.

"Yesterday, Mama took me to the park, and she pushed me really high on the swing, and we saw some birds, and we got ice cream, and-" Alisha giggled as she approached her husband. 

"Why don't you let Papa rest for a bit; then you can tell him more," she said before her husband pulled her into a kiss. 

"How was everything?" Vergil asked.

"Fine; there's a few documents you need to sign when you get back at the office." 

"How about you? He hasn't worn you out too much without me, has he?" Alisha chuckled as she stroked his cheek.

"I think I can handle one three-year-old for two days. I'm sure it's a lot easier than hunting demons. Sit down; once I put everything in the oven, I'll join you."

As soon as Vergil sat on the sofa, Nero immediately pulled himself into his father's lap, with Alisha joining them not long after. 

"So you had quite the day yesterday," Vergil said.

"Mama spent all day with me at the park. She got tired when we got home, but I was really good while she rested."

"I see... Did you keep her safe from demons?"

"Yeah! I scared them all!" Little Nero's response elicited a bemused chuckle from his father while Alisha leaned her head against Vergil's shoulder. She remembered how concerned Nero looked when she sat on the sofa with a tired sigh when they returned home, and asked her if she needed a nap. He really was such a good child, but she quickly assured him that she just needed to sit for a while. She loved how much of his father she saw in him, his sweet blue eyes, his white hair that somehow always found its unkempt... he even said he wanted to be a great demon hunter, just like his papa, and would swing his little plastic sword at his plush dragon for "practice". While she hoped he would grow to be as strong as his father, for now she would enjoy him being her baby for as long as possible.

Once nighttime fell, she gave him Nero a warm bath before dressing him in his nightclothes and tucking him into bed. The crib had been put away not long ago, and he was now sleeping in the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. Afterwards, Vergil came in the room to join them, taking a book from the small wooden bookshelf before seating himself on the mattress next to his son.

"Would you like me to read to you?" he asked, to which Nero enthusiastically nodded "yes".

Alisha smiled as she sat in the nearby rocking chair, watching as her husband told their son a bedtime story. She remembered how worried Vergil was about becoming a father; he had confessed to her that he barely knew how to take care of himself, let alone a tiny person, and feared that he would be worthless as a father and husband. But time and time again, she assured him that would not be the case; there were many things she had yet to learn about motherhood, and that they would learn together. Though it was not always easy, they created a happy life for themselves, and their son gave them a newfound purpose. Never would she have imagined that meeting this stoic, standoffish man would lead to all of this...

After Nero finally fell asleep, Vergil gave him a kiss on the forehead before returning the book and turning out the lights. Then, he and his wife made their way to their bedroom, to have some time just between the two of them. After changing into their nightclothes, they climbed into bed, and he held her close to his chest as they settled under the covers. Tomorrow, more surprises would be in store for them. But for now, they partake in this quiet moment for as long as they could...


	25. Babysitting

Today, Dante had offered to babysit his nephew while Vergil and his wife had an evening to themselves to celebrate their anniversary. The sun was already starting to set by the time Dante arrived at his brother's house, and there was a slight chill to the air as he stepped up to the door and knocked. A few seconds later, Alisha was there to let him in.

"Uncle Dante!" Nero cried as he tried to leap up to him.

"Hey, Nero!" Dante said with a smile as he bent down to one knee. "You keepin' the demons away?"

"Yeah! I'm tough!"

"You sure are... but I bet you can't stop this tickle demon!"

Suddenly, Dante starting to tickle his nephew, making him giggle uncontrollably as he wriggled around. A moment later, Vergil came downstairs to join his waiting wife.

"Dinner's in the fridge," Alisha said to Dante. "And bedtime's at eight. We'll probably be home at around nine."

"Got it," Dante said as he picked Nero up. "You two have fun." Alisha and Vergil gave their son a kiss on the forehead, said their goodbyes, and headed out the door. "So, Nero, what do you want to do before dinner?"

"Hide and seek!"

"Well, I hope you have a good hiding spot..." Dante set his nephew back down on the floor before closing his eyes and counting to ten. When he opened his eyes, he began by searching the most obvious looking hiding spots on the first floor- in the closet, behind the curtain, under the blanket on the sofa- but so far Nero was nowhere in sight. Truth be told, Dante could have used his heightened demons senses to find him easily, but what fun would that be? Instead, he made his way upstairs and found his nephew curled up in the bathtub while hiding behind the beige shower curtain.

"Found ya!"

Nero giggled as he stepped out of the tub.

"Mama showed me this hiding place when me and her where playing with Papa. I wanted to hide in the closet, but she said we should hide here, and Papa took forever to find us!"

"That so? She must be pretty smart." Nero gave a hearty nod in confirmation.

"She's really fun to play with too! Papa says not to make her too tired, but I'm always really good when she needs to rest."

"Well, looks like you're pretty good at hiding," Dante said as he ruffled Nero's hair. "But are you good at seeking?"

"I'm the best!"

"Then let's put that to test..."

After some more rounds of hide and seek, Dante headed back to the kitchen to heat up the leftover chicken and vegetables in the microwave. Then, he cut the meat for Nero's serving into small pieces before seating himself at the table. The kid ate his dinner without any fuss, thankfully, but Dante took notice of how Nero grimaced and looked less than pleased when he began to dig into the carrots and peas.

"Don't like the vegetables?" he asked. Nero shook his head as he swallowed his small forkful of peas.

"Mama says I have to eat them to be big like Papa," Nero said as he stabbed his fork into the chicken. Dante gave a small chuckle before he took another bite of his meal; Alisha may have been a good cook, but it seems like not even she could avoid a child's picky palette.

"Well, I'll tell you a little secret," Dante said, to which Nero looked immediately interested. "Your Dad? He didn't like his vegetables when he was a kid either." Nero's bright blue eyes suddenly looked even bigger when Dante said this.

"Really?!"

"Yeah, really; he _hated_ broccoli. In fact, he hated anything that was green. He only started eating them when our mom told me I was good for eating mine without her having to tell me." Dante left out the part where he only ate his vegetables specifically to spite Vergil, knowing that he would be praised for doing so; he actually hated vegetables as much as his brother did. But that wasn't important. What was important was Nero's priceless expression of awe when he just discovered that his dad was sometimes naughty too."And I'm sure you want to be good for your mom, right?" Nero nodded in agreement before eating some more of his vegetables. He still didn't looked too pleased at the taste, but at least he got a funny story out of it. 

After they both finished eating dinner, Dante washed the dishes while Nero sat on the sofa playing with his plush rabbit, giggling as he tossed it in the air and watched in land in his lap. It was funny; for as long as Dante could remember, his twin brother was a hardass, and he was still a hardass even after reconciling as a family and having a wife and kid. Not a day went by when Vergil didn't make some sort of sarcastic remark towards Dante, or scoffed at him for not doing things "his way". But when it came to his son, all of that edge seemed to disappear. Sure, he put on a strict front, but it was clear that it didn't take much for Nero to bend his dad's arm; if he wanted on his dad's lap while he was busy working, then Vergil would pull that kid up without question. And while he may have told him not to make Alisha too tired when they played, Dante had a feeling that Vergil would pick up right where they left off. It seems like not even he could resist the cuteness of little Nero. It reminded him of how hard it was for him to believe that his own doting father was none other than the most powerful demon in Hell...

After Nero was put to bed, Dante sat on the sofa, watching the evening news on the TV and making sure the volume was turned down low. He found himself thinking about Alisha, and how things must have been for her since arriving here. She had eventually told him more details as to why she wanted to escape from Fortuna: some prick forced a kiss on her, and his wife blamed her for it. Then she was thrown into a prison for women who weren't "well-behaved", and was treated as an outcast for something she never did. Hard to blame her for wanting to get the hell out of there. Hell, he was surprised Vergil didn't decided to cut the whole island to pieces when he found that out. Well, at least she seemed a lot happier now.

Which led to another matter: the fact that her homeland worshipped his father as a god, the Savior, they called him. Apparently, his old man founded the town after saving its inhabitants a thousand years ago, before taking off at some point. He didn't recall his father telling him or his brother anything about that in his many stories of his adventures. He wondered why that would be, and if dear old dad ever planned on telling them eventually. Well, he supposed it wasn't important now, though he would definitely be keeping an eye and an ear open for the future. Still, it was pretty weird knowing that his sister-in-law still worshipped and prayed to his father to this day, despite knowing the truth of his and her husband's lineage. But as long as it made her happy, he wasn't about to stop her.

A little after nine, Vergil and Alisha returned home, just as expected.

"How was he?" Alisha asked.

"Oh, he was great," Dante replied. "We had a lot of fun, and he's sleeping like a log right now."

"That's wonderful; thank you again for doing this."

"Hey, what're uncles for, right? And now that he's asleep, I'm sure you'll be having your own fun, right, Verge?" Vergil gave his brother a scowl while Dante simply grinned in defiance. But nonetheless, he thanked his twin for taking care of Nero for the evening, and after Dante was paid, he made his way back home. There certainly was never a dull moment in the family. 


	26. Spilled Secret

It had just turned midnight when Vergil finally returned home. Starting at the beginning of the day, he and his brother were out on a lengthy mission on the other side of the city, where there was a rather ugly demon invasion. Luckily, they were able to exterminate all of them, but by the time Vergil made his way back to the cottage, he was absolutely exhausted. When Alisha opened the door, he looked as though nearly all of his energy had sapped away, and he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Vergil," Alisha said as she let him inside. "Come, sit down; I'll heat you up some leftovers."

"Thank you," Vergil said in a low voice before she gave him a kiss. Slowly, he sat at his seat at the dining table as his wife took some beef soup out of the refrigerator, poured out a serving, and made her way to the microwave. "Is Nero asleep?"

"Yes; I told him that you'd be home by morning."

"Where you up all night waiting for me?"

"I was. But you don't need to worry; I couldn't fall asleep anyways."

Vergil didn't say much more as he quietly ate his soup, but Alisha didn't mind; she was simply happy to have him back home, and he would hopefully have a good night's rest.

Right after finishing his late-night dinner, he joined his wife in the bedroom, where they both changed into their nightclothes before laying in bed together with her back against his chest, and his arm linked around her waist. Hopefully, tomorrow would be less stressful. Little Nero missed his father, but he would surely be happy to see him in the morning...

Just as she had began to drift off, she felt the hem of her nightgown being furled up, until it was bunched around her waist. Then, she felt her husband's hand reach beneath the fabric and fondle her breast.

"Vergil...?" she asked. That was when she felt his pelvis rub against her, and she could feel that he was already quite aroused as she felt his erection against her rear. "I thought you were tired..."

"I am," he whispered in her ear. "But I also wanted to unwind after a very long day."

Before she could say another word, she felt him pull at the elastic of her underwear until they were almost at her knees. Then she gasped when she felt a finger slip inside of her, making her wet as he began sucking at her neck. His other hand continued to stimulate her breast, her nipple hardening between his fingertips while his other hand started rubbing at her clitoris. When she was adequately prepared, she felt him remove his hand from between her legs so that he could release his member from his pants. Then, he gently spread her legs apart just enough from him to enter her...

Alisha bit her lip to hold back her moan as best she could as she felt his length completely slip inside. Slowly, he began thrusting, and she could feel his hot breath at her neck as he groaned, the hold on her breast becoming firmer. She placed her hand above his that was at her waist, their fingers linking together as their bodies were joined, the head of his cock hitting deep within her. She could feel wetness leaking onto her thighs, and it took nearly all of her self-control to keep quiet so as to not awaken their son.

Soon she felt his thrusts become stronger and more erratic, and she knew he would cum soon. A few more firm thrusts inside of her was all it took for her to become undone, and she quietly whimpered as she came in his arms, shuddering as pleasure washed over her. She could feel how tense his body became as he reached his own climax, his seed quickly shooting inside of her as he held her tight. After a long moment, he finally relaxed, kissing her neck as she let out a contented sigh.

"I think," he said, "I can finally sleep now..."

She smiled as she closed her eyes, his length still inside her of her as she began to fall asleep. Tonight, they would have a good rest indeed...

* * *

"Mama, did Papa hurt you?"

That was what Vergil heard as he left the kitchen of Dante's home with a glass of water in hand for his wife. Alisha was sitting at Dante's desk, filling out some paperwork while he was sitting at the bar, with Nero standing right next to her.

"No, darling, why?" she asked.

"I heard you crying at night."

That was what his son said to her.

At the office.

Where everyone, including Dante, Lady, and Trish, could hear him.

Vergil nearly dropped the glass from hand while Alisha's cheeks soon turned a bright crimson. Lady and Trish couldn't help but release some knowing chuckles while Dante gave a very bemused look, much to his brother's chagrin.

"N-Nero, darling..." Alisha said, desperately trying to choose the right words to say. Vergil knew that his son had nothing but the purest intentions, which only made the situation that much more tricky to get out of. Still, he could have sworn that he and his wife were very quiet last night, and it was when Nero should have been long asleep. Perhaps he had awakened in the middle of the night, and ended up hearing his mother's... "crying". "I... you see..."

"Your mother fell out of bed," Vergil quickly replied as he approached the desk and placed the glass on the surface. Foolish as it was, it was the first thing that came to mind, and he did his best to ignore Dante's raised eyebrow. "She rolled out of bed when she was trying to fall asleep, and landed on the floor. But she's fine now..."

"Oh..." Nero said. Alisha gave her husband a slightly confused look, but she nonetheless seemed thankful that he had quickly gotten her out of her predicament. "Are you still hurting, Mama?"

"No, not all." She smiled at her son before giving him a kiss on the crown of his head.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

Alisha stood from her seat before taking Nero's hand and guiding him to the bathroom. Then, with an annoying grin still on his face, Dante stood from his seat at the bar and approached his twin.

"'Falling out of bed', huh?" he said as he crossed his arms. "Is that what they're calling it now?"

"Silence, brother," Vergil said.

"Well, at least we know there's no trouble with _that_ part of your marriage," Trish added.

"Oh, Vergil, your face is redder than a tomato," Lady said.

"T-That's enough," Vergil said as he quickly turned his head away. None of them said another word, but he knew that they wouldn't soon forget such an incident. Perhaps in the future, he could look back on this event with amusement. But for now, he was simply relieved that Nero didn't ask any more. 


	27. New Traditions

Christmastime was soon approaching again, along with an ever-growing layer of snow covering the ground. Nero was filled with glee when he woke up to the sight of pure, white snowing blanketing everything in sight at the cottage, and he was eager to play outside as soon as possible.

"I have to make sure you're all bundled up," Alisha said as she gathered her son's winter clothes from the closet. "I don't want you to get cold out there." After dressing him in his beige coat and black boots, she made sure that he was wearing his dark blue hat and gloves, along with a matching scarf that she knitted for him. Then, she took her own winter clothes from the closest.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Vergil asked as she slipped on her coat. "You just got over being sick last week."

"It'll be fine," she replied. "I won't be out there for too long."

They were greeted with a chill when she opened the door, but that didn't stop little Nero from rushing outside into the snow, leaving a trail of small footprints behind as he ran down the steps of the porch. Alisha smiled as she looked out into the frozen scene before her; the sky was as white as the ground, and a light flurry of snowflakes gracefully fluttered in the air. Snow wasn't a common occurrence in the town of Fortuna, and there would only be a light coating of it at most, barely enough to make a single snowball. Though the mountains had plenty of snow, she never had a reason or opportunity to visit there, so she never saw a heavy snowfall up close for herself growing up.

Her first winter outside of Fortuna was the first time she could see her feet sink into a thick layer of snow the moment she stepped out the door, which seemed to sparkle during the few moments the sun was able to peek through the thick clouds. She still remembered her excitement when she looked out the window and saw everything outside covered in a heavy blanket of snow that wasn't there the previous night. Though it got much colder Red Grave than it ever did in Fortuna, she was nonetheless happy to experience the winter as much as she could.

"Mama, look!" Nero cried as he ran up to her. In his tiny hands was a snowball the size of an apple, and his bright blue eyes glimmered with joy.

"That's a big snowball," she said. "Did you make that all by yourself?" Her son gave a proud nod.

"Papa showed me! He showed me how to get lots of snow and squish it!"

She gave him a small chuckle. "It looks like he's a good teacher." Vergil didn't say anything, but she saw him smile as his son ran back to him, who was eager to make more snowballs. Ever since arriving at the cottage, she noticed her husband becoming more relaxed as time went by, and opening up more to her. And despite his initial fears, he was a wonderful, loving father, and she never failed to see the love and devotion he had for his family. Though he was still rather guarded, he seemed happier than he had ever been, something that filled her with pride for him.

After Nero made himself a small mountain of snowballs with his father's help, they went back inside. She could see that her son's cheeks had become a rosy shade of pink after spending so much time out in the cold air, and his little fingers felt frozen as she helped him unbutton his coat. Luckily, the cottage was nice and warm inside, and he made his way to the sofa after she had removed his winter clothing.

"You're not too cold, are you?" Vergil asked.

"Not any colder than you, I'm sure," she said as she touched his frigid cheek. "Besides, we'll all get warmed up soon." She gave him a quick kiss before removing her own winter attire. Then she filled the kettle with water and placed it on the stove before joining her husband and son on the sofa. Nero was tightly clutching his brown rabbit plush as she sat between him and Vergil.

"Mama, will Santa really come to our house at Christmas?" Nero asked as he crawled into her lap.

"Of course," she replied with a smile. "Just another week more."

The concept of Santa Claus was something else that was new to Alisha. While Christmastime was celebrated in Fortuna, it was a much smaller affair where families would take time off from work for a few days and have gifts exchanged to love ones. So she was quite amused when she heard that outside of the island, children would await the arrival of an old man who traveled to homes around the world to deliver presents. She thought it was funny when she was told that Santa would travel through the air in a sleigh pulled by nine reindeer, and would enter homes through the chimney. But nonetheless she thought that it was a charming tradition, and said that she wanted Nero to know about Santa Claus while he was still a child. Just a few days ago, she helped him write a letter to Santa. Though Nero didn't ask for much, she did have to talk him out of asking for a real sword like his father's. And on Christmas Eve, he helped her bake chocolate chip cookies, and there was plenty left for Santa and them.

Alisha could hardly wait to see her son's face when he saw the surprise waiting for him in the morning.

* * *

The next day, Christmas arrived and Vergil awakened to the sight of the morning light shining through the window. He was half-expecting his son to rise as early as his father did after seeing how excited Nero was the previous night, but only his wife laying by his side began to stir awake. Then again, Nero almost didn't want to go to bed, and Vergil and Alisha waited a few hours to make sure he was asleep before arranging the presents under the tree. Now, there were a few moments of quiet before the day officially began.

"Good morning," Alisha said with a smile. "It's Christmas already, isn't it?"

"That it is," Vergil replied. She gave him a small chuckle before kissing him.

"Should we wake Nero up? I'm surprised he wasn't the one to wake us up."

"Yes... I wouldn't want him to sleep the day away."

After Alisha stepped out of bed, she slipped on her white dressing gown before brushing her long hair as she did every morning upon waking up. As she was lightly humming to herself, he made his way to the closet to gather his clothes. Later today, his brother, Lady, and Trish would be coming over for dinner as they did every year, and both he and his wife would be busy preparing hours before their arrival. Even though everyone often saw each other at work and outside of it, Vergil nonetheless enjoyed having their company over for holidays, and he was sure that Nero would be eager to tell them about Santa's visit as soon as they arrived.

"Mama! Papa!" Just then, Nero came running into their bedroom his eyes wide and alight with a bewildered excitement.

"What is it, darling?" Alisha asked as she bent down in front of him.

"Was Santa here? Did he leave presents? Did he really come down the chimney?"

Alisha giggled as she brushed some locks of hair out of his face with her hand.

"I don't know; we'll have to go downstairs and see, won't we?" Just then he wrapped his hand around hers and led her downstairs as quickly as he could, with Vergil following closely behind. When they were halfway down the stairs, Nero let out an astonished gasp when he saw what was waiting for him; under the sparkling tree were a small pile of colorfully wrapped gifts. For a moment, he stood starings at the presents in awe as Alisha joined him at the foot of the steps.

"It looks like we had a visitor last night," she said. "And I think those presents have your name on them."

"Wow!" Nero cried. Just then, a loud rumbling noise came from his stomach.

"We should probably have breakfast before presents," Vergil said. Nero looked rather antsy, but he eagerly sat at the dining table; Alisha had told him that she would make pancakes for Christmas morning, and Vergil followed her to the kitchen to assist her. It was not long before the sweet scent filled the cottage, and the sound of sizzling batter was nothing short of mouth-watering. Once she was finished, she served the pancakes on three plates, as well as placed a bottle of maple syrup and a tub of butter on the table. Her cooking was delicious as always, and Nero happily ate his pancakes and strawberries.

"Now then," Alisha said as she folded her napkin, "I think it's time we see what Santa delivered last night." 

Nero headed straight for the tree and began to unwrap a box wrapped in bright red paper with a shiny gold bow. Meanwhile, Alisha and Vergil sat on the sofa as they watched Nero unwrap his presents. From the way Alisha was smiling, it looked as though she was just as excited as their son was. Of course, even Vergil had to smile when he saw little Nero gleefully show his parents his new gifts, from a collection of colorful wooden building blocks, to a new plastic sword that looked similar to his father's (It was a bit long for him, but he would grow into it). It seemed "Santa" had chosen well this Christmas...

"There's something for you too," Alisha said to her husband as she stood from the sofa. "From me." Vergil gave her a puzzled look as she made her way to the closet. After a bit of rummaging, she returned with an excited grin on her face as she held a black violin case in her hands. "It was hard for me to keep this a secret for so long," she continued as she handed the case to him. "But I knew it would be worth the wait."

Vergil gently placed the case on the coffee table before flipping up the metal latches and opening it up. Inside was a beautiful violin and bow in pristine condition, laying within royal blue velvet lining.

"Alisha..." he said as he gently held the instrument. "I..."

"I remember you told me how much you enjoyed playing when you were a child," she said. "And when I saw it, I knew I had to get it for you." While Vergil had no doubt that his wife knew him well, not even he could have predicted her going out of her way to purchase such a lovely violin.

"Can you play something, Papa?" Nero asked.

"Yes, please do," Alisha added. "I can't wait to hear how it sounds."

"Well, it has been years since I've played..." Vergil said. "But I suppose I can try..."

After carefully positioning the violin beneath his chin, he began to play a few measures Bach's Minuet in G major, a simple, yet pleasing tune. And somehow, as the bow ran across the strings, the memory of playing so many years ago returned to him; though the last time he had held a violin was when he was a child, he played each note as though it were only yesterday he performed in front of his proud mother and father. And now, it was his wife and child that watched and listened with awe and wonder.

"That was wonderful," Alisha said. "I'm so glad I made the right choice." Vergil gave her a loving smiling before kissing her on the cheek. b

It was not long after before she prepared the ham and placed it in the oven. By the time Dante, Lady, and Trish arrived, the cottage was warm and toasty as the savory scent wafted through the air. At Alisha's insistence, Vergil played a bit more music for their guests. They were all impressed at hearing his violin skills, though he also tried to ignore his brother jokingly calling him "Beethoven".

Dinner luckily went off without any trouble, and a delicious feast was prepared at the table. Nero excitedly told everyone about Santa's visit while Alisha cut his serving of ham into small pieces.

Right as Alisha was prepared to serve the chocolate cake, Vergil pulled her aside into the nearby hallway.

"I hope you didn't think I forgot about you," he said as he reached into his breast pocket. Then he pulled out a square, black velvet box and presented it to her. When she opened it, she let out a small gasp; inside was a bracelet made of shimmering lavender colored pearls.

"Oh, Vergil, this is beautiful," she said. Then he removed the bracelet from the box before fastening it around her right wrist. "Thank you, my love." She smiled and gave him a kiss to show her loving gratitude. 

Another wonderful Christmas came to be, one neither of them would soon forget.


	28. A Little Surprise

It was about a quarter until ten P.M. when Vergil arrived back home. Alisha was reading on the sofa. relaxing in her nightdress and dressing gown, when she heard the door unlock, and she stood up to greet him.

"Hello, Vergil," she said with a smile before he kissed her. "I'll heat you up some dinner." He took his seat at the table as she made her way to the refrigerator. "I hope your day wasn't too exhausting."

"It was a long day, but I'm glad to be home," he replied. In a few minutes, the leftovers were heated in the microwave and served him his plate before she sat next to him. Once he was finished eating, he placed the plate and utensils in the sink and made sure they were cleaned and set in the drying rack. Then he made his way upstairs to take a shower.

And it was at this moment, unbeknownst to him, that his wife quietly followed him as soon as she heard the water running. The other day, she took a glance at one of Trish's magazines at the office, which had several pages devoted to ladies' health, beauty, fashion, and relationship advice. There were also a few pages that gave advice for having a healthy sex life. It made her blush to read, but she did so anyways since she didn't want Vergil to think their "alone time" a chore, or for either of them to lose interest in sex with one another. That was when she read that one of the most important things to keep a couple's romantic life from becoming boring was to occasionally "spice things up", that is, do something different and even spontaneous. Then, as she opened Dante's desk drawer to retrieve a pen, she caught a glimpse of one of his gentlemen's magazines. On the cover was a voluptuous woman with long blonde hair, clad only in a trench coat that was just barely closed enough in order to conceal her nipples. Looking at the sultry model almost made her want to shut the drawer immediately, but then a thought crossed her mind: if Dante enjoyed seeing women dressed like this, would Vergil feel the same?

The answer to that question was something she hoped to find out in a few moments. When she entered the bathroom, she saw his black leather boots propped next to the white hamper, while his vest, pants, cravat, gloves, and amulet rested on the lid. And then there was his coat... it really was a thing of beauty, the exterior a lovely shade of blue embellished with white and gold, while the lining was colored gold as well. Whenever he moved, the three long tails would sway elegantly with each one of his steps. He looked so handsome wearing it... how would it look on her...?

Quickly, retrieved his coat and retreated to the bedroom. Then she swiftly stripped herself of her night clothes before slipping the coat over her naked body, the cool lining at her skin making her shiver a bit. She couldn't believe she was modeling herself in such a way using his own coat, but she tried to think of it as no different than whenever she wore her blue negligee for him. Of course, the negligee was also intended for intimate purposes, while his coat... well, the same couldn't be said about that.

She felt her heart beating faster when she heard the water shut off, and she tried to not be so nervous as she reclined on the bed. She tried to position the coat in a similar manner to the way the woman on the magazine cover wore the trench coat; she kept it just closed enough to cover her nipples and used on of the tails to cover her entrance. Then she braced herself as she heard the bathroom door open.

"Alisha, have you seen my coat?" he asked. A moment later, she saw him approach the bedroom door, his sturdy arms completely visible to her as the gleam of the red jewel of his amulet against his chest caught her eye. While she loved how he looked in his coat, she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the sight of his arms bare, with only his dark vest concealing his torso. When he was close enough to see her on the bed, he immediately stopped in his tracks as his eyes became glued to her form.

"Is this what you were looking for?" she sheepishly asked. How she hoped she didn't sound pathetic.

The surprised look on his face quickly turned into a lustful grin as he shut the door behind him. Ever since the "incident" with Nero, they both made sure the door was closed during their intimate activities, and Vergil had even placed a silencing spell on the door for good measure; now when it was closed, any noise coming from the bedroom would be quiet to prying ears. It was a good thing they no longer had to be concerned about noise, because all Alisha could think about was the lecherous gaze her husband gave her as he stepped towards the bed. For a moment, he said nothing, and simply stared at her tempting body.

"Do... do you like this?" she asked.

"I do," he said with a low rumble in his voice. "Have you had this planned for very long?"

"Just a few days... it was just an idea I had to do something... different."

He wasted no time in locking her lips against his own, her mouth eagerly welcoming his tongue. Soon he climbed on top of her before pushing aside the opening of the coat to fondle her breast. Already, she could feel him fully erect as he shifted his hips against her groin. Even though just a few minutes ago she was feeling chilly, her body temperature seemed to be gradually increasing as he began to gently pinch her nipple between his fingertips...

At last he parted from her lips, and she felt his hand wander down from her breast all the way to her slit. She could not conceal her whimper when he ran his fingers against her moist folds. It did not take much effort to push two digits into her passage, making her gasp as he rubbed against the spot he knew made her entire body quiver in delight.

Before she could feel too much pleasure, he stepped off the bed to undress himself. First was his treasured amulet, which he gently placed on the bedside table. Next was his vest, revealing his sculpted chest. Last was his dark leather pants, and his erect member was quickly freed, a drop of precum oozing from the tip, the sight of it making her even more aroused. Then he sat on the edge of the bed beside her.

"I want you to take care of this first," he said as he slowly stroked himself. She nodded her head compliance and immediately crawled over next to him, sitting on her knees as she reached towards his cock and making on of the tails of the coat drape off the mattress. He was feverishly warm as she bent her head down to take the head in her mouth, the bitter taste quickly greeting her tongue. She remembered the first time she shyly asked him if he would enjoy it if she used her mouth on him. After all, if she felt pleasure from his mouth at her intimate regions, perhaps he would enjoy it as well. Much to her relief, she found that he greatly enjoyed it when she took him in her mouth. Even now, she could hear him groan as he dug his fingers into her hair, urging her to continue. Carefully, she slid the head of his cock as far back into her mouth as best as she could, making his length moist with her saliva. When she briefly looked upwards, she saw him staring down intently at her, a debauched gleam in his eyes. It seemed that her little surprise was paying off...

Eventually, she could feel his cock twitch, a sign that he was getting close to finishing. She increased her speed, moaning so that he could feel the vibrations around his length. Then finally, he came into her mouth, a low growl rumbling through his chest as she swallowed his thick seed. When she had finished, she removed him from her mouth, making sure that he was clean. A small, bashful smile spread across her lips, while one side of the coat began to slide off her bare shoulder. But just as she was about to take it off, he stopped her with his hand against hers.

"Keep this on," he said. His voice was calm, but his excitement was clearly evident. So she slid the coat back into place while he laid his back against the bed. "Will you indulge me, my love?"

Carefully, she straddled him between her legs, letting the tails of the coat pool around her. Then she lifted up her hips before lining herself up to his cock, a shaky moan escaping her lips as she felt it slowly penetrate her. She heard him sigh in pleasure when she lowered herself completely, his hands resting at her waist beneath his coat.

She began by riding him slowly, trying to maneuver herself in a way that felt comfortable. She felt so clumsy, but hearing her husband's pleasured groans encouraged her to keep moving. Eventually, she moved faster, her body shifting up and down his length so that she could feel it as deep as possible. Her head tilted backwards as she moaned out in ecstasy each time his cock hit her most pleasurable spot, and his hand groping at her breast intensified her pleasure.

After a few moments, she started to become tired and was forced to slow down. That was when Vergil grabbed her hips and flipped her over so that she was beneath him. He threw her legs over his shoulders, all while he kept his cock buried in her heat. The smoothness of his coat's lining felt wonderful against her back as he thrust into her, and she adored the lustful gaze he gave her from above. She felt herself quickly approaching release as the pleasure rapidly built inside of her, and from the strained expression on his face, it looked like he was close too.

Finally, she came with a shuddering cry, her entire body trembling with bliss as he held her tight. A few seconds later, she felt his hot seed enter her passage, and she used her limbs to anchor herself to him as firmly as she could. After a few more strokes, he was finished, and rested her legs at his waist before leaning in to kiss her. The tails of the coat lay sprawled on the mattress, and it had all but fallen off of her shoulders during their lovemaking.

"It seems like you enjoyed this," she said with a smile.

"I did," he replied as he stroked her cheek. "But I think we're both going to need another shower. And I think my coat will need to be washed as well."

She chuckled before he kissed her again. It seems her daring idea paid off.


	29. Sickness and Health

Alisha coughed as Vergil poured out a dose of medicine into a teaspoon. This morning, she awakened with a high fever, and barely had the strength to get out of bed to use the bathroom. A few moments ago, Vergil called his brother to tell him that Alisha was ill, and that he would need to stay at home for some time until she recovered, to which Dante replied to take all the time he needed. 

“Vergil...” Alisha quietly said after she swallowed the bitter formula, “thank you...” He leaned forward to give her a kiss on the forehead.

”Mama...?” Nero said. When Vergil turned around, he saw his son in his little pale blue pajamas approaching the bed. He could see the worried expression on the the boy’s face when he saw his mother laying weakly on the mattress. “Mama, are you hurting?”

”Nero...” Alisha said as she gave him a small smile. “Come, lay next to me.” 

“Are you sure that’s all right?” Vergil asked as Nero climbed onto the bed.

”It’ll be fine; just as long as I keep resting.” Just then, Nero crawled under to covers and cuddled up to his mother’s chest, and she wrapped her arm around him to hold him closer.

”Mama, will you be okay?”

”I will; I’m just sick, that’s all. I’ll get better soon so long as I rest and your Papa helps take care of me.”

”I’ll take care of you too!” Nero eagerly replied. Alisha gave a small chuckle before kissing the top of his hair.

”I know you will.” 

“Why don’t you come downstairs with me, and you can help get your mother breakfast?” Vergil asked his son. A moment later, Nero hopped out of bed and followed his father downstairs. 

While Vergil wasn’t as good of a cook as his wife, he had improved some thanks to her help. He had become adequate enough to make a single scrambled egg in the skillet, and afterwards poured a glass of orange juice.

”Do you want to take this upstairs to her?” He asked Nero. After his son gave an affirmative nod, Vergil handed him the glass. “Be careful; we don’t want any of it to spill.” Nero carefully took the full glass in both of his little hands and slowly walked up the stairs to his parents’ bedroom while Vergil carried the plate with the scrambled egg. Then, he watched as his son handed the glass to Alisha, who gave him a smile before taking a sip.

”Thank you,” she said as she set the orange juice on the bedside table. 

Alisha ate her breakfast slowly, and after she was finished she lay her head back against her pillow and fell back asleep. Vergil was glad to see that she had eaten all of her egg and drank about half of the juice in the glass.

”We should let her rest now,” he said. “Hopefully by lunch she’ll be awake again.”

For the rest of the day, Alisha spent her time resting in bed, while Vergil took care of little Nero’s needs. And when bedtime arrived, he made his way to his parents’ room instead of his own.

”I wanna sleep with Mama,” Nero said as he pulled himself onto the bed.

”Nero, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Vergil replied.

”It’ll be fine,” Alisha insisted as she welcomed her son under the covers. “He won’t take up too much space.”

”Well... all right then.” 

By the time Vergil was ready for bed, both Alisha and Nero were fast asleep, with little Nero cuddled close to his mother’s chest. When Vergil stepped into bed, he could feel that his wife was still quite feverish. Hopefully, she would recover soon...

* * *

The next day, Dante came to visit, offering to help with whatever his brother needed. Which Vergil thanked him for, because he needed to buy some groceries, and he was sure Nero would want to stay at home with his ill mother. So for the half hour Vergil was gone, Dante was there to babysit his nephew. As he watched Nero play with his wooden blocks on the living room floor, the glum look on the boy's face was quite concerning to him; Nero was usually a happy kid, and seeing him so sad was nothing short of worrisome.

"Worried about your mom, huh?" Dante asked as he sat on the floor across from him.

"I don't like it when Mama's sick," Nero replied. "She doesn't even get out of bed. And Papa's gets real scared too."

"Well, at least she's got you and your dad to take care of her. I bet she's really happy about that."

He knew that Vergil would never admit it aloud, but Dante couldn't blame his brother for being scared whenever Alisha was ill; hell, even he was pretty worried, considering how bad it could get sometimes. Their own mother was pretty healthy, and at worst would have a very occasional bad cold, which she would recover from fairly quickly. But Alisha needed extra care, despite how much he knew she hated "burdening" others. Still, at least Nero was a good kid, and Vergil had gotten pretty good at domestic life.

Later, Vergil arrived home with groceries, and Dante and Nero helped him put them away. When they came to check on Alisha, she insisted that Dante stay for dinner, saying it was the least she could offer in exchange for helping her.

Dinner that evening was spaghetti and meatballs, and Vergil carried a small serving to Alisha, as she still had a small appetite. When the three of them seated themselves at the dining table, Dante had to admit that it was actually tasty.

"I had no idea you could make something that was actually edible, bro," he teased after taking a bite. Vergil simply gave his brother a disgruntled scowl as he helped cut Nero's spaghetti with his fork.

Once Nero was put to bed, Dante was prepared to return home; he could only imagine what Lady and Trish had been up to at the office while he was gone.

"See ya soon, Verge," he said as he made his way to the door.

"Wait," Vergil said before his brother could leave.

"Something up?" Dante asked as he turned around.

"No. It's just..." He could see that Vergil looked a bit perplexed, as though trying to figure out what he was supposed to say. "I'm... very appreciate of all you've done. Not just today, but since Alisha, Nero, and I arrived here. If it weren't for you, I don't know where we'd be. Thank you..."

Dante gave his brother a smile; it was rare to see Vergil so genuine, and even humble, a far cry from the proud demon he usually presented himself as. Truth be told, Dante always knew deep down that Vergil was grateful for having him around. Nonetheless, it was nice to hear him say so.

"No problem."

* * *

Alisha had become significantly better after a few days. Though she was still rather weak, she decided to come downstairs and rest on the sofa that day, as she was tired of being trapped in bed for so long. Little Nero was also happy that his mother wasn't spending all day sleeping, and kept her company in the living room as he played. Vergil had prepared her a cup of blueberry tea, which tasted sweet and helped soothe some of her achiness.

Just then, she saw him remove his violin from his case, and prepared himself to play. She was happy to see that her husband had been putting her gift to good use, and he played so wonderfully. Then, she heard him begin to play a familiar tune...

”Lavender’s Blue,” she quietly said as the music reached her ears. It was a simple song, but it sounded so sweet and lovely when he played it on the violin. How happy she was that he had grown to love it as much as she did... 

As Nero continued to play in the living room, Alisha sat quietly knitting as the news on the television played. Last night, Vergil was telling her about the manor his family lived in years ago, and that he and his brother stopped by there recently. Though much of it had been damaged in a fire, it was surprisingly still standing, and Vergil was able to claim ownership of the property. It wasn’t as secluded as it once was, but there was still plenty of space for a family to live and grow. Which was why he told her that he intended to set aside some of his paycheck into restoring the home, so that he, herself, and Nero could live there. While she would miss living in their lake cottage, a home closer to her husband’s workplace and the local school district would be beneficial to everyone. And they could still easily visit the cottage thanks to Vergil’s Yamato portal abilities. 

“Mama, can we get a kitty when we move to the big house?” Nero asked as Alisha peeled one of the oranges for him that Lady brought over yesterday. 

“Well, I think it would be nice to have one,” Alisha replied. “But let’s see what Papa thinks.”

”Hmm... we’ll see,” Vergil answered. Alisha has a feeling, however, that her husband would warm up to the idea with enough persuasion. 

Alisha turned into bed early that night, and was able to tuck in Nero. After giving him a kiss goodnight, she went to her bedroom, removed her dressing gown, and settled on the mattress. Hopefully in a few days, she would be well enough to return to her normal schedule. Still, she was glad to have such a supportive family who would be there to help her along the way.


End file.
